The Dragon Tamer: Part One
by Raven Allerdyce
Summary: ((EDITED AND COMPLETE!))PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion?
1. Default Chapter

The Dragon Tamer

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic. This is a list of most of the characters that I do own.  
  
This is a detailed description of all the characters that I have added. ((Including Kaylin Delfuego))

-=-

Amanda Orlan**=|**

Codename: Basilisk

Age: 18

Hair: Red, shoulder length but slightly wavy.

Eyes: Honey brown

Power: Create and control fire and electricity in the form of a dragon, the dragon can burn, electrocute, and attack whomever she wishes.

Jake Yeltzer=|

Codename: Rainman

Age: 19

Hair: Blonde, crew cut style

Eyes: Green

Power: Summon rain, control water, and breathe underwater.

Allen Patrick=|

Codename: Paraschic

Age: 19

Hair: Black, similar to John's style

Eyes: Crystal blue (almost white)

Power: Telekinesis

Sarah Ferver=|

Codename: Emerald Aura

Age: 17

Hair: Straight and blonde

Eyes: Blue

Power: Control nature (plant-wise)

Evan Hope=|

Codename: Gust

Age: 19

Hair: Spiked black with ice blue tips

Eyes: Black

Power: Create small and short surges of wind.

Kaylin Delfuego=|

Codename: Flame

Age: 15

Hair: Wavy and blonde

Eyes: They are constantly changing

Power: Create fire, but not control it. Also has dramatically increased speed.


	2. 1 Strange Dream

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? ((' Indicates thoughts))

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 1: Strange Dream

-=-

John rested in his new room. Well, if you could call it a room. It consisted of a metal-based bed that barely fit him, a metal nightstand, and a metal chest to keep his clothes in when he gets them back from the mansion. It had been two days since he had joined Magneto and Mystique, and he still had on the same sleeping clothes, he was getting kind of tired of it. 'Isn't there anything to do around here?' He pondered as he stared at the ceiling, as if expecting something. 'Do I really think the ceiling is going to tell me what to do?' He couldn't help but chuckle at the thought when his eyes began slowly closing. 'I'll just rest for a while....'. He fell asleep. 

-Dream Begin-

The flame flickered and went out. John clicked the switch again and the lighter repeated it's previous action. 'Shit, out of fluid.' He glanced around at the unfamiliar surroundings. He was in an open field of some sort. It was in the middle of the night, and moon was barely out. But he could make out the outlines of a couple of trees; they hung down like weeping willows. Something moved in the bushes beside him, he gulped. Looking down at the lighter in his hand, he clicked it again, nothing. He tried a few more times before giving up, it just wasn't going to light. The bushes moved again. 

John took a deep breath and took a solid step closer, as he did so whatever it was shot out of the brush and darted right past him, causing him to fall over. 'It must have been a rabbit or something.' He was about to turn around and continue on his way, to wherever he was heading, when he heard knocking... and a bright light right in front of his face. 

-Dream End. - 

"Pyro wake up!" His eyes flung open to meet a very disgruntled Magneto. "I have been trying to wake you up for the past ten minutes. Food is waiting for you." 

"Uh, sorry, thanks." As the old man turned to walk out of the room, John put his hand to his forehead and wiped the beads of sweat off. "Oh, by the way. You are to retrieve your things tomorrow morning, bright and early. I don't believe anyone there will be questioning you about it. If they do, tell them the truth." He simply nodded to this, too tired to do much more. He concentrated on what he believed to be the food, until he heard the click of the metal door. At which point he flopped back down on his back and closed his eyes. 'Well, tomorrow oughta be interesting.... to say the least.' 

-Dream Begin-

The flame flickered and went out. John clicked the switch again and the lighter repeated it's previous action.'Shit, out of fluid.' Where had he heard that before? He glanced around at the somewhat familiar surroundings. He was in the same open field, at the same time of night, and yep, there were the willows. Once again something moved in the bushes beside him, he turned towards it, but didn't move. The bushes moved again. 

Without moving, the thing in the bushes still shot out of the brush and darted past him, yet again he fell over. 'Stupid rabbit.' He stood up and brushed off his pants, still facing the now empty bush. "Hurt yourself?" An enchanting voice sounded from behind him. His eyes wide, and his heart racing he turned around sharply. Knowing his lighter wouldn't start a fire.  
  
What he came to face was a girl about his age, if not a little younger. She had shoulder length red hair, and honey-brown eyes. She was wearing a tan colored shirt (at least he thought it was tan, hard to tell in the dark) that didn't show any of her chest, but her lean stomach was flying free. He noticed that the sleeves were really long and flowing, almost down to her hips when her hands were in the air. Her jeans were tight around the hips, but a little baggy around the rest of her legs, and dark colored, probably black. He gulped, "Should I know you?" A smile played across her face. She threw her head back slightly and laughed. "Very funny John, now lets get back to the others, it's creepy out here." That said she marched right over to him and looped her arm in his. 'What's going on here?' He wasn't sure what was happening, but he played along with it. What could it hurt?

They started walking, her pointing out where to go, and joking the whole time about how he needs to loosen up, and why is he so tense all the sudden anyway? As they began walking down the narrow path of what seemed like an endless forest, she halted. He tried to get them walking again, but she wouldn't budge. So he glanced over at her and saw her eyes get huge as she watched something in the sky. Nervously he also tilted his head up to have a look. Something was up there, but what? He could barely make out a figure in one of the highest branches of a very tall tree. Whatever it was, it was watching them, and it scared the girl... he still didn't know her name.

John was about to ask her for her name when suddenly she shrieked and the figure swooped down and grabbed onto her from the underarms. She kept snapping her fingers and doing something weird with her hands, but nothing happened. "JOHN! IT'S NOT WORKING! HELP!" He didn't know how, and what wasn't working? He pulled his lighter out; knowing it still wouldn't work, and clicked the button. A flame appeared! Great! He took it in his hands and was ready to blast the creature, when he noticed it was gone, and so was she. He was too late. That's when he saw them, glowing red eyes watching him from the shadows of the forest. The eyes advanced. 

-Dream End. - 

He shot straight up and panted. When he realized it was all a dream, he wiped his sweat off and walked out the door. 'What the hell is happening? I never have the same dream over and over.' "Ah, Pyro, so glad you could join us..." Magneto's sentence was cut when he noticed the flushed and sweaty look his new apprentice had taken on. "Are you all right?" John, who hadn't been paying attention, shot his head straight up and stared wide-eyed at the man before him. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. Just need to get my stuff, when do I leave?"

"As soon as you want to, you're driving yourself there." 

"Ok then, I'm going to get my stuff. Now." 

Moving out of his way Magneto watched the boy walk past him and out to where the car was. Rolling his eyes, "Teenagers." 

"What do you think will happen when he discovers her?" Mystique turned her glowing eyes to face her boss. "I suppose we will just have to wait and see, won't we?" A small smirk worked its way up to Erik's face. He had a good idea of exactly what would happen. "Mystique, go and take on your next mission. I have a feeling it will need to be done about the time he gets there."

-=- 


	3. 2 Home Sweet Home

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? ((' Indicates thoughts))

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home

-=-

Turning the keys he heard the engine choke. With a frown he gave the gas pedal a little nudge and the car started up. 'What a fine way to begin this little journey...' He mused to himself. With one last glance at the old man in the doorway, he shifted into drive and went on his way. After about five minutes of driving, John realized he had no clue how to get to the school from here, since he didn't really know where they were. Cursing himself for his dumb mistake he prepared to turn around, until he heard Magneto's voice coming from somewhere. "Mr. Allerdyce, you will find a map in the glove compartment, I made sure Mystique placed it there, knowing you would most likely do this. If you need any more information, press number three on the radio panel and it will dial this number."

John blinked once, twice, and then let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. 'Whew, that was different.' He reached over and pulled the map out of the compartment. "She even made a route for me. I never thought I'd say this, but _thank you_ Mystique." The rest of the journey was filled with thoughts of his arrival. How would the others act? Had they missed him or thought of him at all? What would they say when they found out he wasn't staying with them? What would they do? With all the questions leaping around in his head, he didn't even notice he was already there.

"Oh god, what do I do now?"

With a deep breath he climbed slowly out of the car, parking it before hand of course, and shut the door. The place seemed so quiet; there was no one to be seen on the school grounds. 'Must be class time.' He checked his watch and confirmed that indeed it was class time. 'And during class time the doors are locked. Great.' Looking around he saw a bench and decided to wait it out. He was about to sit on it when the doors opened and there stood a very different looking Scott Summers. Quick as he could John darted behind the tree and watched. Cyclops didn't have the same look he used to; he seemed much more distant. Like he wasn't really all there, and he was looking right at Pyro.

Wait, no he wasn't. He was looking towards the gates of the school, but he didn't seem to notice John. 'That's understandable, it can't be too easy to see out of that thing. Let alone the fact that I'm behind this huge-ass tree.' Pyro turned his head to see what his teacher was really looking at. That's when he saw her, the girl from that dream he had. She wasn't wearing the tan shirt, or the black jeans, but it was her all right. He would remember that face for the rest of his life. 

She was looking towards Mr. Summers with a nervous expression on her face, the same look that children get when they go to school for the first time. 'This must be her first day.' John wanted to get her attention, but with the teacher around, it wouldn't do any good. He heard a car door slam and an older woman got out. The teenage girl waited for the woman and they both began walking towards the front doors. Pyro sighed when everyone got inside. He thought he would be discovered for sure. Although, he was bound to be discovered somewhere along the way, wasn't he? I mean, it's kind of hard to get in and out of a school without being seen by a single person.

After what seemed like forever he finally got up his courage and walked towards the doors. Classes had ended a few minutes ago, so Ms. Munroe would have unlocked the doors by now. He had his hand on the handle and he was about to open the door when he heard voice around the other side, it sounded like two men and a woman. With further eavesdropping he easily figured out who they were. Ororo Munroe, Scott Summers, and Professor Xavier. He snuck over and placed himself against the wall, his hand touching the corner of the building. Not thinking, even for a moment, that Professor X could easily tell he was there.

Charles' lips turned upward ever so slightly. 'So, young Mr. Allerdyce has come back. And is snooping no less.'

"What do you think of her Professor?" Ororo's voice cut into his thoughts. He cleared his throat, making sure it was more than loud enough for John to hear.

"Well, her powers are dangerous, but most are. I think with a lot of training she could learn how to fully control them."

"Yes, but what if Magneto should get ahold of her?" This time Scott was the one who spoke. His voice was almost too faint for John to hear.

"That's another issue entirely. Let me just say, I think Erik would have his hands full if he got them on this one."

"I think you're right." Ororo smiled, she too knew who was around the corner, and Scott seemed to be the only one who didn't.

A scuffle from inside interrupted their conversation. There was a fight going on.

"Let's go inside before the children break something, or someone."

With that they went back in from the side door, leaving John even more confused than before. 'Why are they talking about her like she's all that different from all the rest of us?' He rounded the corner and with all the strength he could muster he shoved the side doors open. What he saw there made his jaw drop. 'So that's why.'

-=-


	4. 3 Enter The Dragon

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts))

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 3: Enter the Dragon

-=-

John could hardly breathe. No one around took any notice of him, as they were trying to calm the redhead from his dreams. There she stood before him, with her arms outstretched in front of herself. Her thumbs were hooked and turned downwards so her hands formed an upside-down V, and they were glowing orange. That wasn't even the most bizarre part. Coming from her hands was a creature that looked much like a dragon the height of a leg. Only instead of scales it was made of fire and something else that he guessed was electricity due to the color and sound. Just then someone cried out "Jubilee!" When he was finally able to look away from the beast, he discovered why they said that name. Jubilee was the person the dragon was aimed at. She looked scared. He wanted to help her, but found it hard to move.

Finally Rogue found her spine and shoved her ungloved hand upon the girl's arm. With her power being sucked out of her, the dragon let out one last hiss and disappeared, she fell to the ground. Rogue had knocked her out. John shuddered; remembering what that felt like as an enormous wave of pity for the girl washed over him.

That was when everyone saw him. Bobby helped the very shocked Jubilee up and glared at John, then he began walking her up to her room. Marie was a different story all together. After staring at him for a few moments her face broke into a huge smile and she ran over and threw her re-covered arms around him. "I knew you wouldn't stay gone for long, you wouldn't do that to us." He began emotionally reducing in size. How could he tell her that he wasn't here for long? He gulped and looked after where Bobby had departed, Rogue let go and followed his eyes. "Oh, that. Don't worry about him, he'll get over it. He's just upset that you left us like that. But once he realizes you're back for real, he'll feel much better." Once again he began shrinking. "What took you so long?" He couldn't find his voice. "Oh well, you can answer questions later. See ya." With that she bounced upstairs after her boyfriend, leaving him to deal with the adults.

-Thirty minutes later. -

"So, let me get this straight John. You are only here to gather your belongings. And you expect us to just let you leave again?" Storm raised an eyebrow and flipped a couple strands of white hair back behind her. Professor Xavier, Cyclops, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm, and he were all seated in the living area of the school. From the looks on their faces, he once again found that he couldn't find his voice. She tapped her nails methodically on the coffee table. He had always wondered why some woman let their nails grow that long in the first place, only to have them broken or something. Now he knew why, to torture everyone else when they were upset with them by tapping them on things. 

Thankfully Professor Xavier answered for him. "I have a deal for you John. You remain here for one whole month, and if you still decide you wish to leave us, then so be it. We won't try to stop you. If you choose to leave as soon as you get your things, we simply won't let you." Knowing that he couldn't possibly take on all of them at the same time he nodded his head in agreement. Just a month and he would be history.... or so he thought.

-Meanwhile- 

Marie caught up with Bobby just after he dropped Jubilee off at her room. "Bobby! Wait up!" He turned around and smiled at the beautiful sight before him. There she was, the only girl he would ever love. "Hey, what's up?" She sighed.

"I want to talk about John." A frown found its way back to his face. "What's there to talk about? He'll only leave again."

"You're wrong Bobby. I think he'll stay. Can't you just give him a chance?" Doubt clouded across the ice master's eyes. She knew he was about to say no. "For me?"

How could he say no to that? With a long drawn out sigh he nodded his head and gave her a small smile. "For you, but I'm not getting my hopes up, and I don't think you should either. He just isn't predictable." She smiled wholesomely again and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. He grinned. If there was one thing he was glad that happened over the last week, it was that. They learned she could touch him, skin to skin, even if only for a few seconds. Wrapping his arms around her they both headed back downstairs for dinner. Mentally he prepped himself for the oncoming confrontation with both John, and the new girl.

-At dinnertime-

Everyone was sitting in random places like always, eating dinner. John was seated on the sofa, Marie right next to him, and Bobby on the other side. Just like it used to be. Bobby and himself had talked, and now they were almost as good of friends as they used to be. But he could tell Bobby still held some trust back, still wary of him. He finished eating, set his plate to the side, and was about to get into Bobby and Marie's conversation when someone caught his eye. The new girl was sitting in the corner, not touching her food. She must have sensed his stare because her head snapped up and she looked back at him with something similar to fear in her eyes. 'She must think everyone hates her for scaring Jubilee.' He smiled and gestured for her to come over. Bobby and Marie had stopped talking a few moments ago, they saw what John was doing and did the same. With them all asking her to join them, she did.

"What's your name?" The male with the brown hair asked almost before she sat on the floor in front of them. Still nervous she answered softly. "Amanda Orlan." 

Marie: "What's your real name?" 

"Everyone from my village called me Basilisk."

John was confused, "Basilisk? Isn't that a really big serpent?"

Amanda couldn't help but laugh at this one. "It can be. But in mythology a basilisk, or serpent, could also be considered a dragon."

Bobby: "Um. I hate to be the one to ask this, but why did you do that to Jubilee?" His eyes reflected that he wasn't entirely sure she could be trusted.

She sighed. Knowing that she and this Jubilee had been the only ones in the hall when it first started. Her thoughts returned to this afternoon's engagement.

"She reached out to shake my hand, but something went wrong. The static surrounding her reacted with the static surrounding me and it caused her to spark me. That spark triggered my defense system and I instinctively created what you all walked in on. I couldn't stop myself; I've never been able to. That's what I'm here for. To keep me away from normal people, and to teach me how to control my power. Isn't that what everyone is here for?" She looked around and noticed they were all nodding in agreement. 

"So... what are all your names?"

John grinned. "I'm John, but I'm also known as Pyro." He flicked his lighter and took the flame into his hand. Forming it into a V just because he could. Before she could speak the blonde one started up.

"I'm Bobby. Better known as Iceman." He too felt the need to demonstrate, so he made laid his palm down on the coffee table and created an ice heart for her. She looked from one to the other and smiled. Finally feeling more welcome. Marie smiled too. "My name's Marie, but you can call me Rogue if you want to. I take people's life force when I touch them. As you've already felt." Amanda smiled sheepishly. "Yeah, you don't have to demonstrate again." Marie laughed nervously and there was a long pause.

Bobby broke the silence. "Hey, lets go get some ice cream before someone else eats it all!" Marie and John laughed and stood up, that was just like Bobby. As Amanda stood up she sighed. 'I sure hope Jubilee will forgive me. I should talk to her after this.'

"Come on Amanda, your gonna miss out!" She laughed and ran after John who was already in the kitchen.

-=-


	5. 4 Friends Forever

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts))

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 4: Friends Forever

-=-

Lying in her bed, Amanda's thoughts raced. Her cheeks were hurting from the huge smile that wouldn't leave it. She finally had friends who understood her, and they didn't fear her like all her old friends did. They accepted her. Now she had Marie, Bobby, John, and Jubilee to turn to. She had talked to Jubilee while they were eating ice cream. She pretty much said it was no big deal; she was fine now, so they shouldn't discuss it anymore. And by the way would Amanda like to go shopping with her, Marie, and Kitty tomorrow? Amanda said she would love to, but she still doesn't know who Kitty is. That's when the girl explained that Kitty was her dorm-mate and one of their best friends. Turning over and watching Marie's sleeping form (Professor X had put she and Marie in a new room that allowed them a dorm-mate), she finally got her grin to go away and let herself fall asleep.

-In Pyro and Bobby's room-

"Bobby, you awake?" John looked over at his best friend on the other bed.

"No. I sleep talk." Bobby rolled his eyes and grinned as John laughed softly.

"What do you think of her?" Bobby blinked. "What do I think of who?"

John gulped, his dream returning to mind. "The new girl, Amanda."

"She's all right I guess, a little odd but..." A thought hit him. "Wait a minute. Why do you care what anyone thinks of her?" John's eyes widened. "Uh, no reason. Just random talk." Bobby raised an eyebrow, "I know you well enough to know that you are rarely inspired to just up and chat about something that doesn't mean anything to you. Come on, you can tell me. What is it?" Bobby seemed to be worried about something.

"Well. Keep in mind that I haven't ever seen her before today." His friend nodded, he took a deep breath and continued. "The other day I had this dream, I can't explain it really. But she was in it. I asked her if I should know her and she acted like I was joking. We were in some kind of clearing in the middle of a forest. It was really strange. Anyway, we started walking down a path in the forest to catch up with someone and all the sudden this thing came out of nowhere and took her away. Her powers weren't working, and my lighter wasn't working. Isn't that weird?" Looking over at Bobby he couldn't read his face. "I can understand if you don't believe it, I'm not entirely sure I believe it myself." There was a long pause on the other side of the room, and he turned over with a sigh. 

"I believe you." Bobby's voice was weak and almost freaked out. Slowly John turned back around and looked over at him, his eyes were wide, and he was barely breathing. "Bobby? What's wrong?" Another brief pause.

"I've been having a similar dream." He pauses to reflect. "Marie and I are sitting under a tree in some forest. The tree is right next to a narrow path. It starts with her laughing and saying something about how you and Amanda are never going to catch up. I didn't know who Amanda was at the time, though I do now. Just as I was about to answer her we hear this terrible screeching and something huge flies by overhead. It happened so fast that I could barely see it. We heard some yelling, and then it flew away with someone in its grasp. Then, I wake up." Bobby was looking at John, but John could tell he wasn't really looking. He was remembering. Both boys were speechless after the last words were said.

Finally Bobby broke the silence. "Hey John.." It was almost a question.

"Yeah?"

"I know about you leaving again in a month..." John listened for a trace of harshness in his friend's voice, but found none. He cleared his throat, "How did you find out?"

"Earlier, when I went to the bathroom, I heard Ms. Munroe and Logan talking about it."

"Oh.. uh, hey listen. About that..." Bobby cut John's sentence off. "Don't. Just promise me one thing."

"Ok. What?"

"No matter what you do at the end of the month, no matter which side you decide to join. Promise you'll be my friend still, forever."

John grinned, "You'll never have to worry about that. I didn't let my crush on Marie get between us, and I won't let my decision do it either." Bobby grinned back. Everyone knew that John and he had had a little competition in the beginning when it came to Rogue. Bobby was the one that came through to her, but it was true that John didn't seem to let it get between them. Both boys closed their eyes and tried to sleep, but both had something else on their minds.

-=-


	6. 5 Beautiful

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts))

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 5: Beautiful

-=-

The birds chirped outside the window and with a loud yawn Amanda turned over and closed her eyes again. She could feel herself falling asleep when suddenly she felt weightless and then she was hit with something hard all over her body. Panicking she opened her eyes and realized that she was on the floor. She was about to sit up when she heard an outburst of giggles from above her. With a groan she pulled herself up and glared at the three girls on her bed. Kitty, Marie, and Jubilee were all experiencing fits of laughter at seeing their friend fly through the air. In an instant Amanda knew what they had done. They had all jumped on one side of her bed at the same time, causing her to bounce off and onto the floor.

"Don't you just love us?" Kitty managed to get out between giggles. "Yeah, yeah." Standing up Amanda went to her side of the dresser to put some real clothes on. She had been there for a week now, and while some times (like this one) she found it a real pain, she would usually have so much fun that she didn't care. Quickly she pulled out a pair of rather baggy blue jeans and a tight baby blue T-shirt. As soon as she was done changing she headed towards the bathroom down the hall to brush her teeth and maybe put on some eyeshadow or something. Upon returning to her dorm she could hear the girls chit-chatting about the fifteen-and-over dance that was taking place at the school that night.

"Who are you going with Jubes?" Marie's voice sounded excited.

"Jake. What about you Kitty?"

"Allen. I'm assuming you're going with Bobby, right Marie?" She could tell Kitty was making kissing noises. Marie laughed, "But of course." They all stopped talking once Amanda entered the room. Knowing that she didn't have a date and wouldn't be going without one. She laughed at the looks on their faces. "Come on guys. You can talk about it. It's no big deal, really!" With that they all broke into giggles and grins and continued their conversation.

-=-

Bobby and John were seated next to Allen and Jake at lunchtime in the kitchen. John wasn't in to hot of a mood. Every female in the school was talking about the stupid dance. They all asked for each other's opinions on their dates and dresses, and how they should do their hair, and 'wouldn't they seem to slutty with that much make-up on?' God, it was like their lives revolved around it. He was going, yes. They were all going. Bobby was with Marie (Bet nobody would've seen that one coming), Allen with Kitty, Jake with Jubes, and he was going with Sarah. A little blonde that had a 'thing' for him. He wasn't really intending on dancing with her, she was really just a reason for him to go and hang out with everyone else. As he was contemplating his night a thought hit him. Who was Amanda going with? 

'God, don't tell me Evan. He's about the worst she can do.' Evan Hope did seem to be hanging all over her lately. Not that she seemed to want him back. Evan was a jerk, and she could do so much better than him. 'She would never date him anyway. He doesn't seem like her type.... what is her type?'

-=-

Amanda sighed. The girls had left about twenty minutes ago to go plan with their dates and start getting ready. So, here she was, sitting on her bed, looking out the window, and eating a bag of Ruffles. She said she was fine with not going, but she wasn't. This was the first dance they had since she got here, and she really wanted to be there.

A knock on the door interrupted her train of thought. "Come in." The door opened and there stood none other than Evan Hope. A jockish boy whose ego was only surpassed by his need to be in the center of attention... everyone's attention. "Hey Amanda." 'So it speaks.' She blinked and waited for him to speak again. "You know, I was supposed to be going to the dance with LeAnn, but it's your lucky day." She curled her lips into a very fake smile, "Really, and why is that?" 'Oh god, please don't ask me.' He smiled, thinking she was smiling for real. "LeAnn fell ill and doesn't want to go. So, I'm going to give you the chance to substitute for her, and be seen there with myself." She half rolled her eyes. 'May the lord have mercy on my soul.' She was prepared to say no when a thought hit her, 'Why not? At least I would be there. Maybe I could even dance with someone other than him.' She had a certain someone in mind. "Ok. I'll go with you." He winked, "That's my girl. Smart choice there Amanda. See you at 7:00 then." And he walked away, leaving her door open. She grinned and raced downstairs to find the girls.

-=-

"Ladies and gentlemen," (Actually it was just gentlemen, the only people in the other room were Bobby, Allen, John, and Jake.) Kitty's voice rang from the kitchen, "Presenting Marie D'Ancanto." Marie walked out in her dance dress, and Bobby's mouth dropped. She had on a long black dress that hugged the hips but kind of flared out after that. Actually, it resembled her nightie very much. "Jubilation Lee." Jubilee came out with a mini-dress on. It was yellow with a small bow in the back, and a black sash across the waste. "Me, Kitty Pryde." Kitty walked out grinning. She had on a dress very similar to Rogue's only it was periwinkle and pale blue. "And last but not least. Amanda Orlan." She said the name like a sports announcer. Amanda walked out very carefully, not used to wearing a dress OR high heels. Her dress was down to her ankles and made out of green velvet with gold velvet trimming. It tied around her neck and her shoes matched it quite well. There were slits running up both sides to her mid-thigh. She smiled nervously, 'Why aren't they saying anything?' Finally after a few moments Marie broke the silence. "Well, boys, what do you think?" John blinked, "Beautiful." He had to admit he was going to be slightly jealous of Evan tonight.

--------


	7. 6 Wanna Dance

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts))

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 6: Wanna Dance?

-=-

They all entered the very large gymnasium right at 7:00 P.M. that night. Mr. Summers had set up a large speaker system throughout the whole room. Ms. Munroe was the DJ and she wasn't doing too bad of a job either. Almost as soon as Amanda and Evan entered the gym, he was gone. Straight into the center of the room and just started dancing. Over a few minutes a large group of girls went and joined him, 'Probably ditched their dates too.' She looked around. 'Wonderful. Oh well, where's Marie?' No sooner had she said this then she noticed her friend in the corner nearby, dancing with Bobby. The others were dancing nearby, well, except for a certain 'couple'. She smirked and started heading over there.

-=-

John tried his best to ignore Sarah, who was right in front of him, pleading to dance. "Come on John! I want to dance!" He was really starting to tire of her annoyingly squeaky voice. He looked around for someone in particular. He knew Amanda wasn't with Evan because said male could easily be seen in the middle of the party dancing with a bunch of girls, and Amanda wasn't one of them. Sarah finally gave up, "Fine, have it your way. You can stay right here and not have any fun at all. I, however, am going to go dance." With that she went towards Evan and his groupies. John didn't really mind because at that moment he spotted Amanda coming towards him. A smirk upon her face, he smirked right back as she sat down next to him. "Hey, how come you're not dancing with Sarah?" He laughed. "She was too annoying for me."

"Well, I'm glad you're not. Otherwise I would be sitting alone." She laughed too.

"Why aren't you dancing with Evan?"

Her smile turned into a frown. "Guess he had other plans. Oh well, I didn't really come here to dance anyway...." She finished and gave him a half-smile. She was putting up a good front, but he could tell she did want to dance. He took a deep breath and stood up, 'Am I really about to do this?' Before she knew he had even stood up he held out his hand to her. "Wanna dance?" Her face broke into a huge smile. "I would love to." She took his hand and they began looking for a place to 'park', it was very crowded. There was an empty spot, John noticed, next to where Evan and the girls were. A huge smirk danced on his face, "Come on, I know just the spot."

-=-

Marie and Bobby stopped dancing to take a break for a moment and watched their friends walk towards the dance floor. She got an idea, looking at her boyfriend she said, "I'll be right back sugar, don't dance without me." As fast as she could, she ran over to Ms. Munroe and requested a song. The teacher followed her gaze and got the idea. "I hope you know what you're doing Marie." They both smiled knowingly.

-=-

Upon reaching their destination the fast song clicked off and was replaced by a very slow song. She smiled and put her arms around his neck, snuggling up closer for the dance. He smiled back, and did the same, enjoying the jealous leer he was getting from Evan and Sarah, who had stopped dancing. Amanda followed his stare and had to control herself from laughing out loud at the looks the two were getting from their dates. After a few moments she began listening to the song and it's words. 

**It still feels like our first night together  
**Feels like the first kiss and it's getting better baby  
**No one can better this  
**I'm still holding on and you're still the one  
**The first time our eyes met - it's the same feeling I get  
**Only feels much stronger - I wanna love ya longer  
**You still turn the fire on...

  
She smiled. 'This song sounds nice.'

**So if you're feeling lonely ... don't  
**You're the only one I'd ever want  
**I only wanna make it good  
**So if I love ya a little more than I should...

**Please forgive me - I know not what I do  
**Please forgive me - I can't stop loving you  
**Don't deny me - this pain I'm going through  
**Please forgive me - if I need you like I do  
**Please believe me - every word I say is true  
*Please forgive me - I can't stop loving you

John, now listening to the words, started thinking about the girl in his arms. She truly was beautiful, and he was starting to like her, really like her. Maybe even love her, if that's possible when you only really know someone for a week. He looked into her eyes and smiled. She returned it and blushed. 'God he looks good, even better than usual.'

**Still feels like our best times are together  
**Feels like the first touch  
**We're still getting closer baby  
**Can't get close enough  
**I'm still holding on - you're still number one  
**I remember the smell of your skin  
**I remember everything  
**I remember all your moves - I remember you  
**I remember the nights - you know I still do

Bobby, Marie, Allen, Kitty, Jubilee, and Jake all watched from the tables. Marie looked over at Kitty and Jubilee and grinned. They nodded their heads and continued to watch Amanda and John in their moment of peace.

Amanda rested her head on his shoulder and listened to the rest of the song. John really was sweet when he wanted to be. Sure, he could be arrogant and an asshole to boot at times, but times like these she knew he really wasn't bad at all. Just confused. The song ended, but many more came after that. Whether the song was fast or slow they stayed exactly as they were. Nothing could break the serenity in that embrace. He smiled, she smiled, and they knew their lives would never be the same.

--------


	8. 7 Which Amanda

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts))

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 7: Which Amanda?

-=-

Later that night they were all seated in Bobby and John's room around a large television (Bobby owned it). Jake and Jubilee were lying on the floor, along with Kitty and Allen. Bobby and Rogue were lying down on his bed, looking ready to fall asleep at any moment. John and Amanda were on John's bed, he was sitting up with his back leaned against the wall, she was sitting in between his legs with her back against his chest. Jubilee's DVD of 'The Fast and The Furious' was playing on the screen. The time was about 11:00. The party ended around 10:00 and by 10:30 they had gotten permission for all of them to sleep in Bobby and John's dorm. They were trusted (as long as they were all together), and since it was Friday there were no classes the next day.

Once again John found himself more interested in the girl lying in his arms (on his bed!) than what was going on around him. He would try to focus on the movie, but every time he tried, his thoughts just reverted back to Amanda. So he gave up and just watched her. Watched everything about her (creepy moment anyone?). After a few minutes of feeling his eyes on her she tilted her head back, looked at him, and blushed. 'I wonder why he's staring at me like that? Does he think he made the wrong choice and would rather be with Sarah?' He took note of the worried look that crossed her eyes and smiled, she flashed a relieved smile back and began to watch the movie again. 'Nah.'

-Meanwhile back at Magneto's-

Erik frowned, "Mystique, are you ready yet?" The shapeshifter came out of the bathroom from observing herself. He smirked; she had taken on the exact form of a certain teenage redhead. She smirked back, "Everything is moving along as planned I presume?" His smirk faltered, "It had better be." He looked to the side, hoping he was right in thinking why Pyro hadn't yet returned.

-At the school-

Marie and Bobby looked at each other, smiling. John and Amanda had no clue that Marie was the one who got them 'together'. Bobby was happy too. If John was with someone than that meant he didn't have a crush on Rogue anymore, and he didn't have to feel guilty for winning her over. He had seen the smile on John's face as he looked at his new girlfriend, he could tell there just wasn't any room for romantic feelings for anyone else. It was exactly the same look that he, Bobby, was constantly giving Marie. They just seemed meant to be.

The movie ended all too soon, but no one was tired. Bobby, who hadn't really paid much attention to the movie anyway, got an idea. "How about we go hang out outside?" Everyone jumped up and agreed. The girls had long since changed into normal outfits so they just headed straight out. Jake and Jubilee stayed on the concrete and danced to imaginary music, 'Quite romantic really.' Amanda thought. Allen and Kitty were actually playing chase and Allen was 'it'. Bobby, Marie, John, and Amanda were all seated on nearby benches talking.

"I knew you two would make a cute couple." Marie grinned, proud of herself. Amanda blushed again, "I have to admit that I've thought about it a few times." John beamed at this, "So have I." Bobby leaned forward and spoke before he thought. "Have you two kissed yet?" Marie gave him 'the look' and he slouched down again. "They just started dating five hours ago, Bobby, don't rush things." They talked like this for a while more. Finally Marie got up and said it was probably time to go in. Everyone agreed, except John. "Amanda and I will stay out a few more minutes, you guys go on in." Bobby laughed and winked, "Sure thing." They went in. John turned to face his girlfriend and was surprised when she suddenly caught him in a kiss, but he quickly fell into it. After a moment the kiss had to end so they could breathe. "Wow, I didn't expect that." John grinned, 'I enjoyed it though.' "I didn't either," Amanda smiled sheepishly, "It just kinda came over me."

Suddenly the door opened and Bobby poked his head outside, "John, can we talk?" His friend nodded and went in. When the door closed Bobby started, "Hey man, I'm real glad you got a girlfriend and all. That means I don't have to feel guilty about mine anymore." John nodded and grinned, "Uh, thanks." Bobby continued, "Oh, and Mr. Summers came down and told us it's time to turn in. The others headed up to out dorm already. So, you get Amanda and come on up." With that he turned and ran towards the staircase. John grinned again and stepped outside. What he saw there took him by surprise. 'Which Amanda?'

-=-


	9. 8 I'll Show Them

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts.)) 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 8: Danger on the Rise?

-=-

There were two of Amanda. They were both wearing the exact same thing, and looked the same. They seemed to be standing face to face as if they had been in an argument, but both faced him the second he came out and began pleading that they, not the other, was the real Amanda. He took it for a few seconds, but it got tiring. "Would you both just shut up and let me figure this out?" They were silent. He was almost panicking. What was going on here? Walking up to each one, John looked into their eyes. Instantly something clicked and he knew which one was right. He grabbed the Amanda on the right and pulled her to him. Then, turning to the left 'Amanda' he glared. "Mystique, what are you doing here?" She smiled and transformed back into her blue self. "I came to see why you haven't returned to your real home, but I can see now." She looked Amanda up and down disgustedly. The teenager returned the favor.

"His real home? John, what's this bitch talking about?" Amanda turned to face her boyfriend. He sighed and continued glaring at Mystique, "She means Magneto's place. And don't worry, I'll be back soon enough." She could tell he was lying but kept it to herself. Nodding she turned and walked off. Leaving him to explain everything to his frantic mate. "I'm not really going back Amanda, I just said that to get her to leave. Calm down." She took a deep breath and composed herself. "Let's just get inside, before she changes her mind." He nodded and they started walking towards the doors. He knew if he didn't show up at Magneto's within a few weeks, things would get worse, but at the moment he didn't care.

-=-

When Mystique finally got back to her home she walked cockily into her boss's 'office'. He looked up at her, "Well?" She frowned, "He won't be coming back." He sighed, "Well then, we will just have to give him no choice then won't we? Call our friend up and tell him we will need his services after all. He wants the girl, and we want the boy. This way everyone will win." She nodded and went off to make the call."

-=-

'Ugh, more birds.' Amanda rolled over, and her eyes shot open when she ran into something. Seeing who it was she smiled and gave John a peck on the lips. He slowly opened one eye and wrapped his arms around her, smirking. "I see you two are awake." The couple jumped a few feet in the air when Marie's voice rang from the doorway. She grinned when they noticed they were they only ones left in the room. "Everyone else is making breakfast, I came up here to get you. Come on down." With that she winked and went back downstairs."

"They were up already." She laughed as she entered the kitchen. "I got to the door just when Amanda kissed him." Bobby made a whooping noise, she gave him 'the look' again and he was quite. Allen and Jake chuckled at him as he glared back. The girls all made 'awwww' sounds as Amanda and John stumbled into the kitchen, both blushing. Without too much more said about it, they all sat down to eat.

-=-

Later that day the new couple was seated on one of the benches outside. It was a sunny day, and pretty warm too. Amanda closed her eyes and snuggled up against John's shoulder. He had his arm around her and was staring towards the school, at nothing in particular. They didn't need to speak; there was plenty of time for that. They were just enjoying each other's company, without the distraction of someone else around. Suddenly he let out a quiet groan, causing his girlfriend to look up in alarm. When she saw what he was groaning about she herself let one out.

There, walking towards them, was Sarah. Her face in a scowl and a very pissed off aura about her. "What did you think you were doing with.... her?" She spat as she neared them, giving Amanda a rather disgusted look. John stood up angrily. "What the hell do you mean, 'What did I think I was doing.'? It's a free country, and why are you acting like we were fucking dating?" She raised an eyebrow that seemed to say, 'Weren't we?'. He rolled his eyes. "Well I've got news for you, 'Emma', we were NEVER dating! I went to one dance with you, ONE, and we didn't dance at all!" She looked slightly hurt, how dare he use her codename as if he didn't know her personally. Emma was short for Emerald, which, in turn, was short for Emerald Aura. Her mutation was flying and controlling nature (not weather, just earth-type stuff). She got her codename because when she did either of those, she got an emerald green aura around her. She composed herself and scowled again.

"So you're telling me that you would rather be with lizard-girl than me!" He got a dumbfounded look on his face. "When did I ever even hint that I would want to be with you in the first place?" 

"Fine! Have it your way. But one day you WILL regret this, and so will she. That's a promise!" 

She huffed and stomped away. 'I'll show him, I'll show all of them.' John shook his head and sat back down, drawing Amanda closer. "Don't mind her, she's got a couple of screws loose." The redhead laughed and closed her eyes again. They resumed their previous states, before being so rudely interrupted.

-=-

About an hour later they were back inside. The eight of them seemed to be inseparable anymore. They were in the middle of eating when John heard the professor's voice in his head. 'John. Could I speak with you for a moment?' John looked up, his mouth full of food. "Um, well, ok. Why not?" Everybody lifted their heads from their plates and he saw many raised eyebrows watching him. "Professor wants to talk to me." Bobby and Amanda nodded; the others just shrugged and continued eating. After giving Amanda a quick kiss on the cheek, he stood and walked up to the professor's office. There he saw a familiar face sitting in the chair across from the old man. "Kaylin?"

The girl turned around sharply, and smiled. "JOHN!" His adopted-sister ran over and threw her arms around him. "So this is where you ran off to. I've been looking for you the whole time." His eyes got wide, "You've been searching for me for the past five years?" She nodded, almost crying. "Yes. After you left nothing was the same. So I packed up and have been searching for you every since." Professor X smiled at them, "I found her through cerebro and had Storm go and pick her up." John smiled and grabbed Kaylin's hand to pull her downstairs. "

"Amanda! Bobby! Everyone! My sister's here!" His friends (who had all finished eating by now) turned to look. "Kaylin. This is my girlfriend Amanda Orlan, my friends Bobby Drake, Jubilation Lee, Jake Yeltzer, Kitty Pryde, Allen Patrick, and Marie D'Ancanto. Other wise known as Basilisk, Iceman, Jubilee, Rainman, Shadowcat, Paraschic (Parashick), and Rogue."

--


	10. 9 Fun and Games

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(*Rating may change in later chapters* PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts))

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 9: Fun and Games

-=-

Two more weeks went by without much happening. One afternoon the gang (minus Jubilee) was sitting in the living area talking. Suddenly Jubes entered the room and practically leaped with excitement. They all stopped and looked at her. "I have great news! The Professor says that we can go camping, just the eight of us! Tonight!" Everyone laughed and hugged happily then went up to pack. They had been talking about doing this for a while now. And finally they had consent.

Arriving to her room Amanda threw some clothes in a bag and looked what she was wearing at the moment. 'No, no, we are going to have to change this.' She rummaged through the clean clothes she had still in her drawer and pulled out a black pair of jeans and her new tan shirt. It looked like something a hippie would wear, with long and flowing sleeves. She loved it. Putting them on she checked herself out in the mirror, "Excellent."

-=-

With one last look around to make sure he didn't forget anything, John closed his dorm door. Amanda, Marie, Jake, Jubes, Allen, Kaylin and Kitty were all waiting for he and Bobby outside. Bobby was at the top of the staircase waiting for him. "Ready?"

"Yeah." They headed outside and off.

-=-

Getting there was fairly easy, despite all the baggage. The guys were given one tent and the girls were given one tent. With those, the food, the sleeping equipment (sleeping bags, sheets, and pillows) there was quite a bit to carry. They had driven for an hour to a rather secluded little forest and hiked until the reached a suitable camping type area. Storm had told them about it. It wasn't too big, but it was surrounded by trees and there were about five paths all around, so they could have a little fun.

After setting everything up and taking a long break, they ate lunch. While they ate Amanda was looking at a zoomed in map of the immediate area. There was a whole lot of green (trees, duh!), but there were also three medium sized blue splotches. 'Lakes' she thought, 'so that's why Ms. Munroe told us to pack swimming gear.' "Hey guys, I have an idea." Everyone stopped eating and listened. "According to this, there are a couple of lakes around here. Anyone up for a swim later?"

"That would be so much fun!" Jubilee exclaimed, she loved swimming. Kitty said she was wondering why they were told to pack that stuff, and that she was in. Everyone else pretty much agreed that it would be fun, except for Kaylin--"Actually, I think I would like to explore a little, you guys go without me."--After about five more minutes everyone was almost done, Kaylin had already headed off on a path. John grinned, 'she always loved a good adventure.' He sighed, pushed a chip around on his paper plate and observed the grounds. There were a couple of trees in the middle area, oak trees. But for the most part all of the trees were on the outside in a circle around them.

"John! Johnny?" He was forced to reality by his girlfriend's worried voice. "Huh?" She looked at for a couple more seconds. "Are you all right?" He laughed, "I'm fine Mandy." Amanda frowned, "You know I hate being called that.... anyway, go get your swimming shorts on, the others are already in the tents getting ready." He nodded with a smile and ran off towards the boys' tent, she did the same to the girls'. About ten minutes later everyone emerged fully clothed with a towel on one arm. Marie was paying attention to something under her towel when Kitty nudged her. She looked over at her and Kitty nodded her head towards the guys with a questioning look on her face. She looked over at them and raised an eyebrow. They all four had a rather malicious grin on their faces. 'What are they up to?' The other three girls had noticed as well, but they all shrugged and let it go. They would probably find out later anyway.

"Come on." Amanda started moving towards one of the paths on the right. They continued following the same path until they reached a small lake. She checked the map again, which had some information on it. "This is the Chellona Lake. It's the smallest of the three around here. It's about fifteen feet deep all around, twenty in some spots." That seemed to suit everyone because they almost immediately began stripping. 

Bobby's swimming trunks were pale blue, and made of a silk-feeling material. John's were black with flames. Jake had on a pair that looked blue if you saw them in one direction, and black in another. Allen's were just plain red. She had never seen John with just shorts before, 'Damn' was all she could make out of it. He was even hotter than usual. She looked around at the girls. Marie's seemed to be a black bikini, but there was a see through, small-holed, net like material that formed long sleeves and leg coverings. 'To keep her from accidentally touching people or things in the water. It must really suck to be a fish that touches her.' Kitty's was a different story. It was a hot pink bikini and the top was mermaid-style (shells). Jubilee and she had one-pieces. Hers was black with a scrunchy style chest covering. The covering was scrunched at the center with a blue jewel and purple flames coming from it onto the fabric. Jubes' was orange with zippers running from the top of where each armpit was down to her belly button. If unzipped it seemed like her whole front torso would show. 'What the hell...?'

"Hey, Jubilee, um, why does your suit have zippers?" Her friend laughed and reached up, unzipping one of them. There was more fabric underneath. "It's just for design." The males in the group, who had been watching intently, all groaned at the news. Receiving multiple glares from their girlfriends. Marie reached underneath her towel and pulled out a pair of 'swimming' gloves. She barely had enough time to put them on before she felt a pair of strong hands on her hips and she went flying into the lake. When she surfaced she saw Allen, Jake, John, and her lovely boyfriend all laughing their asses off on the shore. She was about to yell some choice rants at them when a head popped out of the water next to her, then another and another a little closer to shore. 'So, they thought they'd just throw us all in huh?' She had to laugh, because it was funny, and because she could imagine what it must have looked like seeing all of them flail into the water. After a few moments and some yelling and shrieking from the other girls, the guys stopped laughing and joined them in the water, still smiling.

They all 'horsed' around for what must have been a half-hour, when something happened. Jake and John were racing to the shore and back when Jake began struggling with something. He was slowly going under. John looked at the others and yelled frantically, "He's being taken under water by something! I can't see it!" Jake was now completely under the water, and despite John's efforts, he couldn't save him. John swam as fast as he could over to the others and they waited.

--


	11. 10 Into The Night

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(*Rating may change in later chapters* PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts)) 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 10: Into the Night

-=-

Everybody gasped. Jubilee nearly fainted. They couldn't see Jake in the murky water at all, no one knew sure what to do. They were watching the spot when Allen let out a loud cry of horror, and before anyone could act he too was taken under. The rest huddled closer, all the girls about to cry, well. Suddenly John made a noise that sounded very much like 'argh' and he was under almost before anyone noticed it, his hand slipping out of Amanda's. She screamed.

Bobby was looking quite worried about this point. Then the same thing happened to him. All that remained were the females, four very scared females at that. All at once they were pulled under the surface. Amanda was desperately trying to swim to the surface (which was really only about two feet above her), keeping her eyes closed. She didn't want to see what was attacking her. Out of nowhere she felt herself being kissed, and her eyes shot open to reveal none other than Mr. John Allerdyce himself. She broke the kiss and tried her hardest to slap him, which turns out to be very hard to do under the water. She kicked her legs indignantly and surfaced, a very pissed off expression on her face. "That wasn't funny at all, damn it". The other girls were already up, similar looks on their faces. Within a few seconds the guys broke the surface laughing.

"You guys actually thought something was attacking us?" Jake bellowed out a laugh between words. No one answered him. They were being ignored. "Come on girls, we didn't think you would take it so seriously." Bobby puffed out his bottom lip and stared at Rogue, who for the death of her couldn't stay mad at him when he did that and he knew it. "You weren't thinking period." Jubilee retorted, staring completely the opposing direction of her boyfriend who was trying to pull the same stunt as Bobby. Eventually the girls gave in and forgave them and everyone was out the water drying off. "Hey, Jake, how did you stay underwater for that long? It must have been at least five minutes." Kitty questioned. Jake grinned, "I can control water right? Well, it just so happens that I can breathe underwater too."

"Oh." She blushed, 'I should have guessed that.' He laughed and Allen kissed her crimson cheek. "You poor thing. We really gave you all a scare huh?" Amanda laughed in response, "Yes, and if Marie hadn't given in to Bobby you four would still be in the doghouse." All the girls agreed and everyone made their way back to camp.

-=-

Marie, Amanda, Kitty, and Jubilee were all sitting in their tent. It was about 6:00 now, and the 'tough' boys were taking a nap. Jubilee was scowling, "I can't believe we let those dorks get away with scaring us like that." Marie laughed, "I know. But what can we do?" After a few moments of serious thought, Amanda got an idea. "I know!" Everyone turned to face her. "One time in middle school I was at my friend's sleep over and during a scary movie her brother turned all the lights off during the worst part. Well, late at night we went into his room while he was sleeping and put make-up on him, nail polish too." Jubes' eyes widened and she grinned, "I brought all my stuff, nail polish and all! Plus, all the lipstick is liquid form, so it won't wake them up." Kitty and Marie looked at each other smiling as well. Pay back was going to be a bright red bitch this time around.

-=-

An hour later the ladies were all sitting outside by the fire-pit, when the guys woke up. Each girl looked at each other and smirked. After a few moments of complete and udder silence they heard random choice words, and finally, "Amanda Orlan!", "Katherine Pryde!", "Jubilation Lee!", and "Marie D'Ancanto!" all sounded from inside the tent at the same time. All four girls attempted to keep a steady face, but doubled over once the boys came out of their tent, scowling. "We are going to go wash this off now, if you don't mind!" John spat, he did look extremely pissed. 

"Wait, let us get one more look at you." Amanda looked from one to the other. John resembled a cheap hooker with his bright purple eyeshadow, bright red lipstick, hot pink blush, and of course, red nail and toe polish. Bobby was all about blue and pink. Rogue had done him up in dark blue eyeshadow, light pink lipstick (she even threw some lip gloss on him), light pink blush and blue nail and toe polish. And if Amanda wasn't mistaken, there was a pink and blue clip in his sleep-styled hair. Allen wasn't too bad; he just had light blue eyeshadow, brown lipstick, red blush, and white polish on his nails and toes. Now, they were all funny, but Jake was the real sight to see. In her seek for revenge Jubilee put a scarf around his neck, green. She put gold eyeshadow on his lids, and silver just above that, purple nail polish, yellow toe polish, brown blush, and to pull it all together, a black lipstick. She smirked as they gave the girls one more glare and sauntered over to the water bucket looking like cheap whores.

-=-

Magneto paced back and forth. Where was she? He had sent Mystique over to get their new alliance a few hours ago. They didn't have time for all this waiting around. He had places to go, and people to kill; there was nothing in his schedule about waiting. After a few more minutes he was about to get her on the radio when she and a male visitor walked in. The man was tall, about Sabertooth's height, actually he was about the same weight as his old protector too. But looked nothing like him. No, this man was bald, had multiple tattoos, the eyes of an eagle, and natural claws to boot. "Hello Erik, good to see you finally accepted my offer. Although I still say you should have just given the girl to me when you had her in your grasp. Instead of taking her to that damned school!" He was getting upset all over again. "Calm down Leon, she will be with us soon enough. Did you bring your weapon with you?" The bald man smirked, "Of course. How could I forget him?" He whistled and a young boy came obediently in, he too was a mutant. 

"This, Erik, is weapon #4." He turned to the child. "Show him your gift, now!" The young one nodded as if in a trance and began to glow, within moments he had transformed into a very large odd-looking creature. It had the head, body, front legs, and tail of a black leopard, the wings of a seriously overgrown dragon fly, and it was big enough for two people to ride on. Magneto looked him over and noticed that where the two back legs oughta be, were a very large pair of black talons. Leon clapped in its face and the boy changed back. "When will we be leaving?" The old man smiled at him, "The sooner we leave, Leon, the sooner #5 will be under your control." Said man smirked, "Then we leave now. I know exactly where they are." Leon Deranger could locate any mutant that he had inserted a chip into, the chip was just a locator. And Mystique had already placed one in Amanda. Professor X could have found it, but he had no thoughts that there was such a thing in her. Leon's 'real' name was simply put, Raptor. He had the mutation of mind control, and he was never one for letting your abilities go to waste. Magneto took one more look at Mystique, "You know your part in this correct?" She nodded a smirk finding it's way to her lips as her eyes flashed red.

-=-

"Come on! Hurry up guys!" We find our favorite gang in the middle of a vast meadow. Surrounded by trees, with three lonely willows tree in the dead center, and a couple of bushes nearby. There is a path far to the right, and a path directly in front. The path to the right leads back to the campground, and the path in front is where they are heading. Jubilee, Jake, Kitty, and Allen are already headed towards the front path. Marie, Bobby, John, and Amanda are still by the willow tree. "Go on without us Bobby, I need to rest for a minute. We'll catch up." John informed his friend. Amanda and he stayed by the tree and Marie and Bobby ran along ahead, trying to catch up to the other four. John was toying with his lighter, as he had been for a while now. He had noticed the flame getting lower and lower, but hadn't thought to bring any fluid to fill it up with. He watched as the flame flickered and went out. He tried one more time and got the same results. 'Shit, out of fluid.' He blinked, why did that feel like deja vu?

Something ruffled in the bushes; sharply he turned his head to watch them. Why did this all seem so familiar?

-=-

Kaylin sat at the picnic table, tapping her fingers lightly on the surface. 'What's taking them so long?'

--


	12. 11 Evil Has Many Forms

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(*Rating may change in later chapters* PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts))

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 11: Evil Has Many Forms

-=-

John stood there watching the bushes, starting to remember bits and parts of his dream. (Don't you hate when that happens?) He didn't remember the ending, but he did remember this part. The rabbit sprung out full force, and he tried to move out of the way before it could trip him. Too late. For the third time he hit the ground. 'Damnit, don't I ever learn from my mistakes?' He stood up, brushing himself off. "Hurt yourself?" It was Amanda, he had almost forgotten she was there. "Not really, it just shocked me a little." She smiled, "I hope you're rested up, because all this darkness is giving me the creeps. I don't know if you noticed or not, but the moon is completely covered up." He nodded noticing that it was really dark. "Good, then lets go catch up to the others." She walked over and looped his arm, giving him the queer sensation of deja vu all over again. As they silently walked towards the path an eerie feeling swept over him. He still couldn't remember how the dream ended, but he knew it had to do something with this path. 

"Are you sure you want to catch up to them at all? I mean, we could chill back under the tree. Or even go back to the campsite and just be alone." John tried his hardest to sound like he was being romantic, and not just freaking out. Amanda saw right through it. "Are you all right? Come on, loosen up. Why are you so tense all the sudden? I just heard Marie's voice a few minutes ago, they can't be too far ahead." He gave her his best reassuring smile and once again they headed down the dark path.

He was about to say something to her about his dream, when he realized she wasn't walking anymore. Glancing at her face he saw she was staring at the sky with widened eyes and her mouth partly open. Once again feeling this had happened before; he followed her gaze to find the creature once again. Just like that his dream came back to him. He pulled out his lighter and flicked it. Nothing happened. 'WHAT THE HELL!? WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?' He looked up just in time to see the cat-like creature swoop down and grasp his girlfriend. John threw his arms around her waste, not wanting to let go. Something shot into his arm and he was forced to let her go. That's when he noticed there was a rider on the creature, a big fellow, and bald too. Panicking, John looked up into Amanda's face. A silent tear was streaming down her delicate cheek as she attempted to bring forth her power, but this was to no avail, nothing could save her. "JOHN! IT'S NOT WORKING!" This time she hadn't asked for his help, having seen that his lighter didn't work.

Out of nowhere the cat-creature let out a piercing roar and swished it's tail around. Or rather, it tried to swish it's tail, but the tail was frozen. John snapped his head to the right and saw Bobby running up the path. The creature took off in panic, faster than the boys could stop it. It had Amanda in its talons still. Bobby looked at John, breathing hard from running. "My dream came back to me after I heard that thing fly over us. I'm sorry man, I couldn't save her." John bowed his head and put his hand over his eyes, struggling not to shed the tears that he had been fighting off since the thing first arrived. "I couldn't either..."

"What the hell is that?" Marie had, at some point, run up to them. They noticed she was watching something in the shadows. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the red eyes. Immediately he grabbed both their arms and started running the direction the flying-cat had gone off to (forward, where they were headed to begin with). "Run! I don't know what that is, but I'm betting it isn't nice. In my dream it was about to attack."

"What dream?" Bobby looked at his girlfriend as they ran, she was confused. Really confused. "We'll explain when there's time. For now just run! John, where are we going?"

"To find Amanda! That thing has her, and I'm not about to let it keep her!"

After a few minutes of running they ran into Jubilee, Jake, Kitty, and Allen, all seeming to be waiting for them. Without explaining anything they grabbed them and got them to run as well. 

-=-

Mystique transformed back into herself. Smiling the whole time. 'So he thinks he's going to save her eh? Well, we'll just have to tell Leon about that.' She reached into a bag at her feet and pulled out a communicator. She pushed a red button on the side and spoke into it, "Erik. Tell Leon the girl's little friends are on their way to 'rescue' her." Adding sarcasm to the word 'rescue' she waited for the return. 

A few moments of static went by before, "Done." She smiled again, but it faded after a few moments. "You don't think Raptor expects what's sure to happen do you?" The voice laughed on the other end, "Of course not, he's like Sabortooth was, all muscles, no brains. He wouldn't be smart enough to think that far ahead." Her smug smile returned as she headed towards their next destination.

-=-

'Where are they?' Kaylin was still sitting at the picnic table, beginning to worry about her new friends. Something inside told her that everything was not fine. They had left her a note telling her which path they took, and she was thinking about going after them. 'What if something happened? That's it, I've got to go. I'll leave a note too, that way if they come back through some other path, they'll know where to find me.' She quickly scribbled something down below Marie's handwriting and set out after the others.

-=-

John leaned up against the building, breathing heavily and wiping the sweat off his face with his shirt. The others were going through similar actions. He looked down at the piece of cloth in his hands; it was from Amanda's sleeve. They must have ran for at least two miles, stopping for a few minutes here and there. When they came to this building--which seemed to be located in the dead center of the whole forest--they found this on the ground. He wasn't sure if she cut it off to let them know where she was, or if the talons had torn it off. But either way, it told them what they needed to know. 

"Are we gonna do this or what?" Allen was looking around, ready to go in, get her out, and get away from this place. John and Bobby looked at each other. They had explained everything, even the dreams, to the others. To their surprise everyone believed them, and was pretty much willing to do this. They all put their heads together and decided that they would find a way to get her out of there and back where she belongs. Marie sighed; she wanted very much to have Wolverine, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, and Storm here to help them. But she knew there was no time to go back to the school. She could only hope Professor X could sense something was wrong, and send them. "Let's go." Was all she could get out before John began looking for a way in. "Over there!" They all looked at Jake and saw that he was pointing to an open window not too far from where they were standing. John gathered up his courage, walked over to it, and was about to climb in before someone grabbed his arm. "Don't!" Everyone looked at Kitty, "It might be a trap."

"Yes, or it might be a way in. We'll never know if we don't go, will we?" He shook her off and made his way into the darkness. Just after he got in he tried to look around, but it was pitch black. Not a hint of light at all, besides the window behind him. He turned around to give them the ok, but they were already being taken in by some sort of guards. Instantly he knew he wasn't alone. "Well, well, John. So glad you could finally join me." He would recognize that voice anywhere. 'It can't be... she wouldn't!' A light clicked on and his fears were proved true. 'She is...' "How could you do this to me!" The familiar teenage woman before him smirked and crossed her arms. "What, and you never saw me as the type of girl who was bad? Well, let me tell you something 'sweet-heart'. Evil has many forms."

--


	13. 12 Along Came The Fire

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(*Rating may change in later chapters* PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts)) 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 12: Along Came the Fire 

-=-

John glared with his mouth still slightly open in awe. "I told you that you would regret your decision." Sarah Ferver stood before him, her arms crossed and a scowl now appearing on her face, replacing the smirk. "The night you accepted my request to take me to the dance I thought you might actually like me, that I might have a chance. That was all I wanted John, A CHANCE!" Her glare deepened as her voice grew louder. John stood there, vaguely confused. "But you couldn't give me that could you? No, you chose HER over me. I still don't know why either, I thought I had it in the bag. I was prettier, more popular, and my mutation is a hell of a lot more useful then hers. So why did you choose her? Before you get sent back to Magneto I would like to have that answered." He pretended to be ready to answer her question, but looked around out of the corners of his eyes. There had to be something, something he could use.

Sarah tapped her foot, waiting for his answer. "Anytime now John, we really don't have all night. I want to be there when Raptor turns your precious girlfriend against her will, and against you. After all, no one said you were going back to the old man in perfect shape." Something flickered in the right corner behind her, so she didn't notice. But he did. He got a closer look. It was a torch, a lit one! There were five others in the room, but they had all been blown out. This one had just re-lit. 'It must have been just hot enough to catch fire again.' A smirk crawled upon his face, one similar to the one his opponent had at the beginning of their 'conversation'. Sarah tilted her head and looked at him questioningly. 

Then she heard it, the tiniest crackling of flames. Quickly she turned around and her eyes grew wide. Before she could act towards it the flame was out of the torch and into his hand. His smirk grew when he saw her fear of him. "Looks like the tables have been turned, huh 'Emma'?" With one swift motion she was knocked off her feet by the fire he threw and into the stone wall, knocking her out immediately. He put the flames that were still on her out and ran out the door, following the sixth sense he had acquired when he started loving Amanda, to find her.

-=-

Kaylin stood there, staring up at the large building before her. With her increased speed she was able to follow the path three times faster than a normal person was, and she wasn't out of breath in the least. She couldn't be sure if they were in there or not, but this was where the path ended, so she could only assume that was where they were. 'Well then, I'll just have to find a way in.' Looking around she saw the same window John entered through. 'Well, I guess that'll have to do.' When she got in the first thing she saw was Sarah on the ground, scorch marks all over her. 'Yep, John's been through this way.' Immediately she saw the open door and darted out of it.

-=-

"Who in the hell are you?" Amanda stood; chained with her hands far from each the other to prevent any 'problems' as Leon called it. He smiled, "I am Leon Deranger. But you may call me Raptor. I collect some of the most dangerous child mutants and use them as my own personal weapons. You, Basilisk, have been selected to be weapon #5." The most disgusted he had ever seen formed on his prisoner's face. "What? You don't feel pleased?" He laughed. Amanda looked away, not sure of what to do. 'Maybe the others can help...' Her captor smirked, having a good idea of what she was thinking. (He is a mind-controller, not a mind reader) "If you are thinking what I think you're thinking. Then you might as well forget it. All of your little friends have been captured and are currently being taken care of." Her eyes widened, "What do you mean, being taken care of?" 

Leon once again smiled. "Mr. Allerdyce is being held captive by an old friend of his, until Magneto gets here. Mr. Yeltzer, Mr. Patrick, and Ms. D'Ancanto are being kept in an air tight room, which will be filled up with water very soon," Amanda tried not to show her relief, if this moron didn't know of Jake's powers, she wasn't about to give it away. He continued, "and Mr. Drake, Ms. Lee, and Ms. Pryde are being held in cages, I have decided I want them as a few more weapons. Their powers, like yours, are quite unique. I have no use for a rainmaker, a telekinetic, or a life-drainer. Which is why the first three are being disposed of. And now, my dear, I will be transforming you into my greatest weapon yet." 

"Wait! At least tell me where they are, what could it hurt if I'm not leaving here anyway?" Good, he seemed to fall for it. "Very well then. The water tank is in the basement, and the cages are on the third floor." With that he looked deeply into her eyes, forcing her to stare back at him, and began his work.

-=-

John Allerdyce took a deep breath. He had been running through these maze-like halls for at least twenty minutes now, but he knew he was getting closer. 'She's nearby, I can feel it.' Turning the corner he stopped completely. There she was, only it didn't look like her. Her eyes were completely black, even the 'whites' were licorice colored. And she already had the dragon out, directed at him. He stopped in his tracks, "Amanda, what are you doing? Come on, we have to get out of here.... Amanda?" She flipped her hair back, never taking her eyes off of him, and smirked. John didn't have any way to protect himself, so as the dragon neared him, he prepared to block as best as he could. 

Then he noticed the tall man standing behind her, not taking his eyes off of her. 'God, what's happening here?' Leon smiled, keeping his eyes on Amanda. "Greetings Pyro, I am Raptor. You see, Mr. Allerdyce. You really should have gone back to Magneto's. Then your little friends would not be in jeopardy. Except for Ms. Orlan here, yes, I've had my...eyes... on her for a while now. (If you'll excuse the pun)" He chuckled at his own joke. Suddenly it hit John what he was talking about. 'He's controlling her!'

-=-

Kaylin, who had been resting against a wall, heard her brother's voice from only a few corners away. As fast as she could she darted towards it. What she saw nearly made her fall over.

There was John, up against the side wall, with some sort of lizard thing--formed from what seemed to be fire and electricity--that his girlfriend looked to be controlling. "Amanda? What's going on here?" Startled, John looked over at the young woman who had just joined them. "Kaylin! A little help here!" She still wasn't sure what was going on, but she knew John wouldn't ask for help if he didn't need it. Quick as a flash she conjured up a flame and John got a hold of it. He threw it towards Leon, who didn't have time to react. With a loud yell the beast was thrown against the wall, and like Sarah before him, he didn't get back up. This time John didn't bother putting the remaining flames out. He just left them. 

Looking up at Amanda he saw she was slowly returning to her normal state. 'Good.' After a few moments she was normal, and in his arms. "Oh my god, John! I'm so sorry. I don't know what I did, but I know it must have been terrible from what Leon was telling me earlier." Her boyfriend smiled meekly, still shaken up, and hugged her. "It's ok, you didn't hurt me, and I don't think you hurt anyone else. Come on girls, we have to find the others." Amanda stopped him. "Jake, Allen, and Marie are being held in a water filled tank I believe it's somewhere in the basement. You guys can go find them. I'll look for Bobby, Kitty, and Jubilee. You two stay together so you have a weapon, I still have mine." John and Kaylin nodded and headed off to find the stairs. Amanda did the same.

-- 


	14. 13 The Tank

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(*Rating may change in later chapters* PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts)) 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 12: The Tank

-=-

"Get in there! Now!" The soldier huffed as he shoved Marie, Allen, and Jake into the thick glass tank. It was large enough to be a room. 'What are they going to do with us?' They had covered Allen's eyes so he couldn't use his powers (He can't see what he's moving), they tied a dark sash over Marie's mouth, gagging her and tied her hands tight behind her back, to keep her from removing her gloves and doing anything funny to them. 

She noticed they hadn't done anything special to Jake, 'Why is that?' She didn't have much time to think about it, as she had been tossed to the wall and a large metal hoop clamped around her neck and then to the wall. Rainman and Paraschic had the exact same thing done to them. The clamps were nearly tight enough to suffocate them, so they had no chance to slide out. 

One of the guards laughed at something unknown and turned to stare at them, before placing the keys in a metal box connected to the side of the tank, it was water-proofed for some reason. The box wasn't locked or anything and the guards laughed one more time and left. She frowned. They did that on purpose. 'Maybe Allen can use his powers..... no, he can't see. And he isn't experienced enough to find and direct it without seeing it. But what if Jake could untie his blindfold?' 

She looked over at Jake through the corners of his eyes, wanting to tell him her thoughts, but all that came out was a muffled, "Yake! Uhnhie Ayen' eehs!" He looked at her through the corners of his eyes and blinked. Confused. Marie sighed; it wouldn't do any good anyway. They can't turn their heads, so he couldn't see what he was working with. 

She was contemplating another way out when she heard a 'whooshing' sound. 'Sounds like someone's flushing a toilet...' She mused to herself. 'They brought us all the way down here to make us listen to toilets flush?' The sound was getting louder, much louder, and she could easily tell there was much more than a little water. 'What the hell?' 

Marie looked up, but she couldn't see very far up. Then she felt it, water, hundreds of gallons of it. Pouring all over them. She was about to panic when Jake lifted his hands up and went to work. The water poured all around them, but they were in a circle of nothing but air. They tried to breathe as little as possible, knowing the air wasn't unlimited. 'If they wanted to drown us, why didn't they block Jake?'

After only about five minutes Jake was beginning to break a sweat. The weight of all that water was becoming harder and harder to hold. The fact that his neck was braced to the wall didn't make it any easier either. Then he heard someone banging on the glass in front of him. He wanted to look, but didn't dare. He was losing in some spots, as there were a few areas of their 'circle' where water was pouring through.

-=-

John Allerdyce banged on the glass of the tank; it hadn't been too hard to find, what with the water pouring and everything. He could tell his friend was beginning to lose control over the two-stories of water above him. He banged again, gaining Marie's attention. He was pretty sure he had Allen's attention, but the poor boy was blindfolded and had no real idea what was going on.

Meanwhile Kaylin looked around for something to open the door with. 'Don't they usually keep a key around here?' She turned the corner of the tank and saw a guard walking towards her. "Hey!" The man yelled and ran faster. She panicked and shot a blast of fire at him. He fell over in surprise, and she ran over. Taking his belt, she tied his ankles to his wrists and felt around for keys. He complained and threatened her the whole time, but she knew he couldn't escape. 

John, who had been watching the whole thing, ran over to help her find the keys. He patted a pocket and heard the familiar jingle of metal on metal. 'Keys!' Kaylin beat him to them and yanked them out before racing to the door of the tank. She fumbled for a moment, but finally found the right key.

-=-

The stream of sweat was now running into his eyes, and he knew he couldn't hold the water any longer. He just prayed the others would forgive him wherever they went after they died. With a loud grunt he let go, and was nearly crushed by the sudden gush of cool liquid. Silently he closed his eyes and waited to die. But what was this? The water was leaking out of somewhere! 

His eyes shot open and he would have fallen over with relief had his neck not been clamped to the wall. John and Kaylin stood off to the side as the water rushed out the door. Not all of the water ran out of the door, opening it had triggered the draining system in the tank. So most of it went there. They all breathed again.

Quickly as she could, Kaylin ran in and took off Allen's blindfold, and Marie's gag. "The key to the neck braces are in that little box!" Jake pointed weakly to the metal box in the wall. John nodded and ran over to retrieve them.

-=-

After five confusing minutes of unlocking and untying, the five were out of the room and heading up to meet with Amanda and the others. John breathed heavily; they were almost out of this hellhole. 'I wonder how Amanda's getting along?'

---


	15. 14 Locked Up

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(*Rating may change in later chapters* PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts)) 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 14: Locked Up

-=-

Amanda raced around the corner. She was in a hurry, of course, because there really wasn't any telling what kind of creatures Leon had around here, and she wanted nothing more than to get out. 'I hope the Kaylin and John are having more luck than I am.' She thought to herself. It had been nearly a half-hour since they parted, and she still hadn't found these cages. Finally she had had enough, "JUBILEE! BOBBY! KITTY!" So what if someone unexpected found her because of this, she wanted out and soon. 

-=-

Jubilee sighed. She, Bobby, and Kitty were being held in separate numbered cages. There was absolutely no way to get out of it. She was in number '6', Bobby was in number '7' and Kitty was in number '8'. Bobby had tried; he froze the bars and attempted to break through. He had no such luck. Kitty couldn't even phase, the guards who put them in here had put some sort of iron ring around her neck and it wouldn't phase with her. She couldn't get it off. To make matters worse, they weren't alone. Both sides of this very small room had five cages connected to the walls. There didn't appear to be any other prisoners on their side of the room, but there were four across the room. The last one was empty with the number '5' on it. 

Number '4' had a small boy in it, couldn't have been older than 8 or 9. He had a very sad look on his face. Jubilee sympathized with him. 'He must have been through a lot.' The boy had light brown hair and either green or brown eyes, she couldn't tell. She also noticed that there was a word painted on near the ceiling in the wall. It read, 'F-Fly', she couldn't imagine for the life of her what that meant. Looking at the other four cages she took note of each person, they all seemed to be 17 and under. Number '4' was something else entirely. It was a small girl about 5; she too seemed to be spacing out. She had light red hair and what looked like blue eyes. There was a word in her cell too. This one said, 'Merphin'. Once again, Jubilation was lost. She shrugged and kept looking.

The third cage held a boy of about 15. This one was very different from the rest. He had jet black hair, and his eyes were completely and totally black. There were no whites at all. She couldn't really tell if he was spacing out, since there was no way to see where he was looking. The pupils just blended right in with the rest of his eyes. Sadly he gave her the creeps. The word above him simply said, 'Devon'. Number '2' was a little boy much like the boy in number '4'. The only difference she could see was that the writing said, 'K-Fly'. Other than that they looked exactly the same. 'Must be twins.' 

Jubilee glanced at the last child in number '1' was female. She was about 12 and it was hard to tell her hair color for one reason. It seemed to be changing constantly. From the roots down it would slowly transform from black, to brown, to red, to blonde, and back to black again. Her eyes did pretty much the same thing. They reminded Jubes of Kaylin. 'Wonder where she is?' Suddenly she heard a familiar voice yell her name. It was Amanda! The three looked at each other and began yelling back.

-=-

Amanda's heart nearly stopped when she heard the frantic yells of her friends. "WERE HERE! HELP!" She exhaled and ran in the direction the voices were coming from. 'Good thing I did that, I would never have looked this way.' In truth, she had been going in circles since she arrived on this floor. 'This place is like the labyrinth from hell.'

As she entered the room she was taken back by what she saw. Children, small children, were locked up in cages, along with her friends. 'Guess we'll have four more people when we leave here.' She took a deep breath and ran to the cells containing her friends. "Are you guys ok? You're not hurt are you?" Bobby shook his head. "No, we aren't hurt. But Kitty has that ring around her neck, I'm sure that's bothersome. What happened?" Amanda looked over at Shadowcat, it was true, she did have a giant metal ring around her. "No time to explain, do you know where they put the keys?"

Jubilee and Bobby both shook their heads no. But Kitty spoke up, "Yeah, I saw one of the guards walk away with them. He went through that door over there." She lifted her hand and pointed to what looked like an office-type door. Amanda groaned, "Ok, I'll be right back.... I hope." Once again she picked her feet off the ground and ran through to the door. Slowly opening it, she looked inside. There was the guard, he was sleeping! Creeping silently nearer to him she reached down on what she assumed to be his desk and there were the keys. Just as she got back near the door an alarm started going off, one of those 'red-alert' alarms that you always hear in movies when prisoners escape. Quick as a flash she was out the door, she locked it once she was outside, she had seen that it can't be unlocked from inside. 'That oughta take care of him for a while.' 

After all her friends were out, she unlocked Kitty's ring and they decided to bring the others with them. But there wasn't enough time to get around to each door with a separate key. So Amanda gave Kitty, Bobby, and Jubilee each a key containing one of the numbers and she herself ran to number '4'. Once the alarm went off the four kids seemed to come to life, they were no longer just staring in space hopelessly. They were lively and ready to get out of the prison that they never thought they would. About three minutes later all eight were running towards the meeting point. The little girl known as Merphin was in Jubilee's arms, since she couldn't run as fast as the others couldn't.

-=-

John, Marie, Jake, Allen, and Kaylin all stood nervously near the window they had entered. John was more nervous than the others were, seeing that Sarah was no longer where she had fallen, and they had passed the hall where Leon fell, he too wasn't there. They assumed that was how the alarm went off, one of them had gotten up and turned it on to alert the guards. It didn't take a genius to know that anytime now the whole place would be surrounded with guards. He was also very worried about Amanda and the others. 'What's taking so long?'

Within only moments of thinking this he saw his girlfriend run into the room, she was tired and out of breath, he could tell. Then he saw Bobby, Kitty, and Jubilee enter. The others he didn't recognize, but there was no time to question. Without a word they all escaped out the window and continued running away from the hellhole.

-=-

Leon stood on the roof, watching his prisoners run away. But he didn't go after them. He was actually smiling. Those kids were something else. It took courage, power, and intelligence to do what they had just done. Not only had they found their way through his maze and escaped his guards, but they also even stopped long enough to get the other four out of their cages and bring them along. Knowing the young ones would slow them down. He looked down at his now scorched wardrobe. Had he been wrong to use them as weapons? Lifting his head he watched as the mass of them disappeared through the trees. He smirked again; 'They're going to do great things for our kind.'

His smirk quickly faded as he saw Magneto's helicopter fly over him and towards the group of escapees. 'No...' Magneto was going to get them, all of them. "Not if I can help it." With a swiftness known only to him, he darted down staircase after staircase until he finally reached ground level, where he ran outside to find his motorcycle.

---


	16. 15 Confrontation

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(*Rating may change in later chapters* PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts)) 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 15: Confrontation

-=-

'This is just peachy...' John leaned up against a tree. They were all hiding in the woods. He knew what was coming, they all did. They could easily hear Magneto's helicopter above them a while ago. It had stopped, but suddenly, so he knew it landed. And he knew they were on their way. So now it was either run back towards Raptor's place, or run straight towards Magneto. 'Hmm... I just love the choices.' He had one arm around Amanda, and one tightly placed over his mouth to prevent too much noise to escape. The others were following this as well, since all but Merphin were out of breath. Jubilation glanced at the young child that was hugging her leg, 'Good thing she isn't real loud.'

Everyone seemed to hold their breath as the sound of walking came from one direction, and the sound of a motorcycle pounded from another. They could just run to either side, but then they would only get lost and die of something else. Amanda leaned her head on John's shoulders. If this didn't go well, then she would never see him again. He would be drug away with Magneto. Bobby, Kitty, Jubes, Devon, Merphin, F-Fly, K-Fly, and herself would be returned to Raptor and that would be that. Marie, Jake, and Allen would most likely be killed or kept prisoner. Glancing up at John, she noticed he and the others were staring wide-eyed to the left of them, or the way Magneto came from. Amanda followed their eyes and gasped. Magneto and Mystique had spotted them and were approaching very quickly. Not only that, but the motorcycle was gaining twice as fast.

-=-

Leon raced on his cycle, he could tell he was nearing them, as he had seen where the chopper landed. Then he saw the whole gang, including Mystique and Magneto. He screeched the bike to a stop about fifteen feet from them and ran nearer.

-=-

John groaned, Leon had come too. His arm tightened around his girlfriend, as if he alone could stop her from being taken. She too had an arm around him, fearing the same thing he was. 'This is it.' She thought, 'It's finally coming to an end.' A tear slid down her cheek as she looked over at the others. All but Devon, Merphin, and the 'Fly's were crying as well.... well... all the girls anyway. Bobby, Jake, Allen, and John all had stern, yet fearful looks planted firmly on their features. 'Great, I'm a stereotypical girl.' She looked over at Kaylin, who didn't seem the type to leak, and realized that she wasn't crying, but looked like she would at any moment.

"So, you thought you would get away so easily Mr. Allerdyce?" Magneto had his easy-going grin on. John frowned. Of course, they could all attack at once, but that would prove rather pointless. Kaylin was way too tired to create a fire for him, Rogue wasn't fast acting enough, Bobby might be of some use, but he alone wouldn't do much good. And even if Amanda joined him it would still be two against three. Jubilee could join the two of them and make it even, but he highly doubted they would be able to take them all on. Allen, Jake, Kitty, and he were pretty much useless. And there was little chance the kids would just jump in and help, seeing as how they were all so young. 'Well, except for that kid with black eyes, he seems like a teenager of 14 at least.'

-=-

Leon now stood directly across from Magneto and Mystique; he didn't even take the time to look at the shaken teenagers and small children directly to the left of him. He had other business. If he had anything to do with it, they were going to get away from here and back to safety. Raptor blinked as he thought about this, when exactly had he turned into the 'good' guy here? He wasn't sure, but he knew there was something about that group of teens that gave him hope, maybe the future wouldn't be so bad for mutants. The only real issue here was getting the old man and the blue bitch off their backs long enough for them to reach the school. There, Magneto and Mystique would be too out-numbered to really start anything. He knew that much.

Raptor glared as Magneto began to speak. Not to him, but to the one called Pyro; at least he thought that was who 'Mr. Allerdyce' was. He couldn't be sure; it's not like he knew the boy personally. Without even giving the young teen a chance to reply he spoke up. "Leave them alone old man. You've done enough here." Magneto did a double take. Was this really his 'ally' talking to him like this? He sneered, "I thought you wanted a handful of them to become your new weapons Leon, isn't that what we agreed on? I get the flame-thrower and you get the rest?" 

Leon mocked a sneer as well; "Things have changed. These kids can really change something in this hellish world we're forced to live on." Even he had to repeat that one to himself, 'Damn, I sound like something out of a bad super hero movie.' Magneto scrunched his eyes up, and messed with his ear. "I'm sorry Leon, I thought you said things had changed." Raptor smirked, "You weren't hearing things. I said that, and I meant it. Look at how far they've gotten. They made it out of my maze in record time, and almost escaped completely. These teenagers have more strength than the U.S. Military when put together. I for one am not going to be part of destroying something so great. They worked together and every single one of them got out alive." 

Once again Magneto blinked and stared at him, somewhat confused. After a few moments he smiled wryly and crossed his arms over his chest in a superior way. "Very well, if they really want to go they can. But know this," He turned his mocking gaze over to John, who glared back. "Mystique has gotten into that school before, and she can, and will do it again if need be. If you leave now, imagine all the terrible things that could happen to you and your little friends for the rest of their lives. You can leave, yes, and be together. But we would find ways of ripping you apart.... we will always find a way. And the torture would continue until the day you returned to us. What do you say to that?" John snorted, "You might think you do, Magneto, but you really don't intimidate me, and I don't think you get through." 

Mystique walked nonchalantly over and walked around to John's free side. Putting her mouth up to his ear, she began whispering in a voice so low that only they two could hear it. "Imagine, John. You and your bitch manage to get home." He scowled at her choice of name for Amanda, but didn't say anything. "But eventually something will slip, and when you least expect it. She WILL end up hating you, mark my words on that one." She gave him her infamous smile and walked just as easily back over to her boss. She said something to him that sounded very much like, "Let them go. I've got an idea." Magneto grinned and they walked off without another word. The remaining mutants exchanged worried glances, but shrugged it off.

-=-

Raptor smiled after they left. "Before you go, I want to say thank you. Oh, and Emerald Aura will be returning to the school very soon, she has been under my control from about the time Ms. Orlan arrived at the school. She will have no recollection of what was going on, just like you, Basilisk, don't remember what happened while you were under my power." 

"Well, can't be any worse than she was while she was under you," John smirked and chuckled a little, "Emma I mean." He added after getting a very serious look from Amanda.

With a few last thank you's to Leon, they began the very long journey back to the school, leaving their stuff behind. They had all decided that they would simply bring the four new children with them. The school would automatically accept them, and life would go on. They knew Storm and Cyclops would go and get all of it later on, right now they just wanted to get back to where they 'knew' it would be safe.... right?

---


	17. 16 Code Red

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(*Rating may change in later chapters* PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts)) 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 16: Code Red

-=-

John never did tell anyone about what Mystique had told him, he figured she was just bluffing. After all, sure she had gotten into the school before, she even went as far as to morph into Bobby, but she wouldn't try something so similar... would she? 'Nah, of course not, John, stop being stupid. The teachers look out for stuff like that now.' 

They had been back at the school about two weeks, and everything was going beautifully. Sarah, as expected, hadn't remembered anything about being 'taken to the other side'. Although she still resented John for not returning her feelings, that was to be expected, but she showed no signs of wanting to hurt Amanda or himself. Scott and Ororo had indeed went in the jet and gotten all of the stuff they left behind. After hearing their story--and receiving many apologies and a lot of sympathy about not detecting any of it--they talked the teachers into letting the whole school off of classes for a whole week. The teachers were all more than willing. They knew the students wouldn't be paying much attention for a while anyway. 

-=-

Mystique stood at the edge of the school grounds, a malicious smile across her face. This was going to be more fun than she originally thought it would. 'And easy too.' Getting into her new form she strutted methodically towards the doors. She wasn't expected, and she wasn't suspected. 'And so it begins.'

-=-

The Professor, Storm, Cyclops, and Nightcrawler had all gone back off to Alkali Lake. Leaving Wolverine to baby sit yet again. He didn't like this, but the kids did. He was never around, so there was more or less no supervision.

-=-

Bobby and Marie sat across from John and Amanda in the kitchen. Bobby was, of course, stuffing his face with ice cream. While John, Amanda, and Marie each had a large pile of cookies and tall glasses of milk. Everyone was happy. Amanda suddenly stood up, knocking over her glass. "Oops! Damn, I'll get that when I get back." Marie shrugged, "I got it. Where are you going?" She questioned as she got up to clean up the mess. Amanda half-skipped half-ran to the door, "I've really gotta go to the bathroom... personal issues involved here." She flashed Marie a grin and ran off. 

Rogue laughed, knowing exactly what she was talking about. 'She should have known it was that time of the month.' She a chuckle she continued cleaning up the spilled milk. After about ten minutes John stood up, getting slightly worried. They hadn't been apart this long unless one of them was asleep. "I'm gonna go see what's keeping her. I should be right back." He stood up and sauntered off.

He ran into her as she was coming in from outside. He blinked, "What were you doing out there?" She returned a similar expression, before replacing it with a joking smile. "Jubilee wanted to show me something...." Her answer seemed slightly vague, but he didn't care. She was back now. With a smirk she put her arms around his neck and brought him in for a kiss. When they separated he was grinning from ear to ear. "What was that for?" She smiled mischievously, "Well, I was just thinking. Since the only real adult around is Logan, and since he isn't around too much. Maybe I could model some of my new lingerie for you, up in my room. And if something happens afterward, well, you can just let your dirty little mind take over from there."

Her smile widened when her meaning came across him like a ton of bricks. He tried to hide his eagerness, "Mmm.. sounds nice. You go on up, I'm gonna go tell the others where we're going." She shook her head, "Ok, but don't tell them that I'm with you. Don't want any interruptions now do we?" He nodded and she headed upstairs, a faint yellow glow in her eyes.

-=-

John darted anxiously into the bedroom, where his girlfriend was already lying on the bed, in a nightie very similar to Rogues, only it was the same color green as her dance dress had been. She smiled and patted the bed beside her, 'This is going to be good. And look how eagerly he's falling for it.'

John practically tumbled onto the bed. Amanda gave him a quick kiss. "What did you tell them?" He kissed her back, "Just that I was a little tired and wanted to go to bed. They actually suggested that me and Marie switch rooms for the night, so they can have some alone time as well, although I don't know exactly what they plan on doing, I'm looking forward to OUR night." His grin widened, she smiled back. "Believe me, I am too."

-=-

Amanda walked back inside, 'That's odd. I could have sworn I heard Jubes calling for me. Oh well. Better get back to the kitchen.' She hummed a little and re-entered the room where she found only Bobby and Marie awaiting her. She blinked and looked around, "Where's Johnny boy?" Bobby shrugged, "He said something about being tired and going to bed. He went to your room, because Marie and I want to stay in our room tonight, so when you go to bed don't be surprised if he's already in it." Amanda nodded, a little hurt by the fact that he didn't even wait to kiss her goodnight, but she shrugged it off. 'Guys can be so strange about things like that.' Her frown deepened, "I don't know why he is so tired all the sudden, all we've been doing all day is lying around the mansion." Marie and Bobby both shrugged as Amanda sat down to finish her cookies and milk. She wasn't going to bed, since she wasn't anything near tired.

-=-

Bobby, Marie, Allen, Jake, Kaylin, Kitty, Jubilee, and Amanda all sat down in the front room at about midnight watching movies. There were all sorts of other teens sitting around watching as well but they weren't of much importance. Amanda hadn't really been able to concentrate too hard on the movies. She was still wondering why John would just up and go to bed. 'It's so odd. He seemed wide awake before I went to the bathroom...' It had been five hours since John went to bed. Marie must have noticed her absence in all the conversations because she suddenly looked at her and suggested, "Are you getting tired Amanda?" Amanda looked over at her, finally catching her drift, she was making an excuse for Amanda to leave. She nodded said goodnight to everyone and headed up the stairs.

-=-

Mystique (surprise) looked over at the sleeping teenage boy she had just had sex with and smirked. Her expression broadened when she heard footsteps just outside the door, quickly she changed into someone else, someone she knew would really start something. 

-=-

Heaving a sigh Amanda opened the door to her dorm and flicked the lights on. What she saw there made her breath leave her and she wanted nothing more than to run and never stop. 'How could he do this?'

---


	18. 17 Betrayed

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(*Rating may change in later chapters* PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts)) 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 17: Betrayed

-=-

Amanda Orlan began breathing heavily. Each breath was more painful than the first was. She had ran, ran all the way outside. But not before screaming bloody murder in anguish. Thus waking up her sleeping soon to be ex-boyfriend and the little blonde bitch he had next to him. She was leaning against the farthest side of the mansion, trying to fight the tears that threatened to weaken her even further. ALL of the others had all run outside, and were attempting to find her and see what was wrong.

At a loss she gave in to her angst and let the tears flow as she slid down the wall and onto the damp ground. Her butt was getting wet but she didn't care, nothing mattered. She had been the fool after all. She had allowed herself to fall for someone who obviously didn't love her enough to wait until they were married to have sex, as she had asked him to do. No, not him, he couldn't wait that long. So finally he said 'screw her' and picked up the easy slut she had caught him red-handed with. Not that he would care he caused her pain, men like him didn't. As reality came over her again she felt her body being racked with sorrow.

-=-

John raced down the stairs, pulling his jacket on. It was obvious to him now. He had went to bed with whom he had thought was Amanda, and woken up with Sarah. No one could do that except Mystique. Right after his girlfriend screamed and ran off the blue bitch turned into herself for a brief moment before changing into someone unknown and she too ran away, with a sickening smile planted on her face. Leaving him to figure it out on his own.

"That bitch!" He nearly yelled as he ran through the doors. The others looked at him blankly. Bobby had a very confused expression on his face, "Dude, what happened up there?" John tried to fight off the sudden need to run back inside. He didn't want to be the one to tell all of them what he had just done. It didn't matter that she was in the form of the one he loved, she was still Mystique, and he had just... done something very wrong indeed with her. Even he, in his own private thoughts, couldn't manage to utter the truth without feeling the need to vomit them back up.

"I....uh...um...well... it's a long story, just help me find Amanda." Bobby nodded, still confused, but he trusted his best friend. And so they all began yelling out her name. John was the loudest of all of them. But he was rather scared now, 'What if she doesn't believe me? What if none of them believe me?'

-=-

At the sound of his voice Amanda felt herself overwhelmed with mixed emotions. Part of her wanted to run to him and forget all about his unfaithful encounter. But most of her wanted nothing more than to do something in return, something that would make him feel how she did, only ten-fold. She closed her eyes tightly. 'What if I made the mistake? What if it was an accident?' 

She shook her head and these thoughts immediately left her. 'No. That can't be. Its not like he was drunk or anything, so there was nothing to make him think Sarah was someone else...' Would he even want to think she was someone else? Amanda couldn't imagine that he may actually have wanted Sarah all along, and she didn't want to believe it.

-==

"AMANDA!" John yelled her name again. It had been a half-hour since he started, and everyone else had given up, saying she would return when she felt like it. But he wasn't ready to give up yet. Finally he heard someone cough around the corner of the building. 'She must be over there.'

'Shit!' She had coughed. 'Maybe he didn't hear me?' Amanda turned her head to the side just in time to see John come running around the corner. Instinctively she stood up and glared. Ready to turn around and start walking at any given second. But the look on his face stopped her. He was scared... 'And he should be.' She thought to herself. He knows what did was wrong.

John took a deep breath; she looked like she was ready to scram anytime now. But she seemed to just barely be staying there. He cleared his throat, god, was he nervous. After about a minute he finally broke the silence. "Amanda... I... can't really explain this to you without you thinking I was lying. And I'm sorry about that, but this is the truth." He watched her expression for a minute; it hadn't budged from the glare she had a few moments ago. 

He continued, "After you left to go to the bathroom, I left to go and find you, I was getting worried. I ran into you coming from outside, and you invited me upstairs with out, to... well, you know. I didn't know it then, but it was Mystique all along. She must have transformed into Sarah just after I fell asleep. The next thing I knew I heard you scream and I turned over to find Sarah lying next to me. After you left she turned back into her blue bitchy self and left..." Once again he watched her face, which seemed to have turned a little softer. He thought she believed him.

He was wrong. Suddenly Amanda's face turned even sourer than before and she spat at him, "You're right, I don't believe you. Someone else would have seen this so-called 'me' and suspected something. You knew who I was when she turned into me before, why would now be any different?"

John heaved an annoyed sigh, "Because, Amanda, I knew then that one of you was Mystique, It didn't even cross my mind this time, so I wasn't feeling for it."

Once again she looked disgusted, "Just leave me alone John, ok?" With that she walked right past him, brushing his shoulder, and around the corner to go back inside where the others were waiting for her. 

-=-

As soon as she walked in Marie could tell Amanda had been crying. Immediately she ran over and hugged her, "What happened?" The others gathered around as she told the nights events. John still hadn't re-entered.

---


	19. 18 Enemy of the Clan

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(*Rating may change in later chapters* PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts)).

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 18: Enemy of the Clan

-=-

Magneto paced back and forth, a small goblet of wine in his hand. He hadn't slept much since Mystique went off to 'get' John back. Of course, he felt somewhat bad about doing it this way, but he knew that as long as Pyro and Basilisk were together, there was no way he would come back. He hadn't actually planned on doing anything like this. Then again, they hadn't planned on Leon stopping them either. Everything was going so well until that dumbass decided to grow a heart. He was mumbling something about a 'stupid bird' when the woman walked in. A huge smile planted on her face.

He smirked back, "So, how did it go?" She formed her mouth into a cocky smirk, "Everything went according to plan. I changed into her, found him, then as soon as I heard her coming, I changed into Emerald Aura. The bitch walked in, saw us in bed together, and ran out screaming. Thus awaking prince charming, he saw me, I changed back, and he ran after her. Yes, everything is perfect. And if the two don't come to the right decision on their own, we can always... 'help' them out a little. Like we did this time." Magneto chuckled and swished the remaining drops of alcohol around in the iron goblet and drank it.

-=-

Pyro sat on the bench he and Amanda had shared their first kiss on. He didn't feel too good. It wouldn't be fair to call it pain that he was going through, because physically he knew there was nothing wrong with him. It was just like extreme depression. There were no tears, no sobs, not even a glimmer of liquid in his eyes. Just emptiness. Almost like a part of him had been taken away, and there was no hope in getting it back. It had been twenty minutes since his girlfriend. That is, ex-girlfriend had run inside. 'Damn, it's going to be hard to start calling her my ex-girlfriend.' But he was sure she had already told ALL the others about his sleeping with 'Sarah'. Where was the real Sarah anyway?

Quicker than lightening an idea struck him. It was a long shot, but, if he could find Sarah and find out where she was at the time. And if there were witnesses that could tell Amanda he wasn't lying, that she really had been with them, or somewhere in particular at the time, then maybe she would come back to him. John got up and started to run to the door, but once he had his hand on the handle he changed his mind, they might all still be in there. It probably wouldn't look to good if he went in there and said he wanted to find Sarah. 'No, I should go around the side.' He let go of the door and jogged around the side of the building.

-=-

Amanda sat in the middle of the couch, surrounded by all her friends. She had long since stopped crying, there just wasn't any fluid left to squeeze out. 'God, look at me. Crying over yet another jerk.' She looked over at Marie and Bobby, then at Jubilee and Jake, and finally at Kitty and Allen. 'Is it just me? Am I the problem? Am I the reason guys turn out this way?' They all looked so happy, even if they were sad for her. They wouldn't even kiss each other in her presence, thinking it might trigger something to cause more tears. She heaved a loud sigh and stood up. "Guys, I'm gonna retire. If his royal-ass returns, let him sleep somewhere else. Ok?" They all nodded and she hurt a few mutters of 'Sure' and 'Of course'. Sucking in a deep breath for the long night ahead, she turned and headed towards the stairs.

-=-

John had searched all over the mansion where he thought Sarah could be. 'Where is that bitch?' There was one more place he would check before giving up. As he turned the corner to the kitchen he was almost surprised to see her in there. She was drinking a Dr. Pepper and reading something called, 'The Once and Future King' Barely giving her enough time to acknowledge his presence he began, "Sarah, I need your help!" She looked up, startled, but her look of sympathy was quickly replaced by disgust when she saw who it was. "What, your little girlfriend not putting out or something?" He groaned inwardly at the irony in the situation, but looked past it. "Not quite, but somewhere in the field. You're probably not going to believe this, but I've got to give it a shot." 

She tilted her head and appeared interested. So he continued, "Mystique came to the school disguised as Amanda and convinced me to hop into the sack with her. I thought it really was Amanda so I was all for it. I fell asleep a few hours later, and I thought she had too, but I was wrong. I guess that sometime in between when I fell asleep and when the real Amanda walked into the room Mystique turned herself into you. So when Amanda came in, she saw me in bed with you, not exactly dressed either." He stopped to look up and saw she had a completely and totally unbelieving expression on her face. 

He banged his head on the table and finished, "Look, where were you earlier?" Sarah looked him right in the face, "I'm not telling. If your girlfriend doesn't want to be with you anymore, that's your problem. But you don't need to go making up lame-ass excuses to... wait a second. What was that excuse for anyway? What, did you think that I would still want you after all the shit you put me through? Leading me on and all that.." John stood up angrily, "How in the hell can you turn all that I just said into a fucked up form of, 'Will you go out with me?' It was nothing like that, you're just the only person that can help me get her back..." 

He turned around and began stomping out of the room when she next spoke up, "Hey John." It was said almost softly, so he turned around. 'Maybe she changed her mind.' Suddenly an even more disgusted look crossed over her face. This time it was mixed in with anger and jealousy, "Fuck you." She huffed and brushed passed him in an indignant mannerism. He groaned out loud and leaned against the doorframe, head in his hands. This was hopeless. Sarah would never help him, and in some freakish way he didn't want her help, at least he didn't want to need her help anyway. But the sad truth was that if she didn't help him, there was next to no chance that he would win Amanda back. He knew his friends wouldn't help, if Amanda had her way, he was now an enemy of the clan.

---


	20. 19 Running Away

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(*Rating may change in later chapters* PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts)) 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Chapter 19: Running Away

-=-

John woke up to a major cramp in his right leg, not to mention a sore back, neck, and butt. He groaned as he stood up, not even remembering falling asleep, which he had apparently done whilst sitting at the table. Standing up he glanced at the clock on the wall. It was five in the morning, everyone would still be asleep, and he knew just where to go.

-=-

Amanda turned in her sleep. As she rolled over she rolled onto something and was startled awake. She cracked her eyes open and was forced to suck in air to keep her from screaming, but she relaxed almost instantaneously. It was John, he was kneeling on the floor (and looking rather uncomfortable), his hand up on the bed (she had rolled onto that), leaning against it. He was still asleep. As much as she wanted to throw him away, she went with her better judgment and decided against the idea. Instead she quieted her breathing and studied him.

He had a serene, yet confused look to him. 'Why are guys so peaceful when they sleep?' She had yet to meet a guy who wasn't at least 5x hotter when he was sleeping. 'Must be because they can't cause pain unless they're awake.' She frowned. 

-=-

After what seemed like hours John finally stirred, and opened his own eyes. Amanda didn't bother closing hers, what would be the point? The boy slowly began to get up, but he must have noticed she was awake, because he stopped. They looked into each other's eyes, only this time was very different from the other times. This time there was little to no emotion to be shown. His dark eyes were not seductive, nor were they sad, angered, or shameful. They were merely pools of brown and black, dully mixed together on a white background. Amanda's eyes, though much lighter, held the same state of no emotion. At that moment both knew it was truly over. They still loved each other, yes, but they had been broken in both spirit and mind. Slowly John stood up, and with one last look, he left the room.

-=-

Later that day all the teachers--who came back only hours ago--and John were in the professor's office. It had been one month since he came back, and now it was time to decide where he wanted to be. John looked around and he could tell all the teachers expected him to stay, for multiple reasons. So he turned to the professor and took a deep breath. "I've made up my mind." They all leaned in to listen.

-=-

Bobby sat on his bed reading a comic book when his long time friend sauntered in. "Hey," he said. "Wanna do something later? You know, just us guys. Me, you, Jake, and Allen?" All he got in reply was a mumble and a sigh. He shrugged mentally as John placed something inside a pillowcase. "Okay then. If you don't want to..." John looked over at him; he was now packing his bags. "I can't, Bobby, but not because I don't want to. It's because I won't be here." Bobby looked up from his comic, "Huh?"

It was more a question of 'Why' than 'What did you say'. John took a moment to look him over. "I'm going back, Bobby. I don't belong here anymore." Bobby's jaw would have dropped had he not had it resting on his chest from reading the comic book. "How can you say you don't belong here?" He sat up, "Is this about Amanda? Look man, I'm sure in time she'll take you back. You made a mistake, and you're paying for it now." John ignored him and continued.

There was still silence as he zipped up the canvas bag, and headed towards the door when Bobby grabbed his arm. He snapped his head around, "Let me go Bobby." Bobby shook his head, but said nothing. "It's not just about Amanda O.K.? Everyone has been giving me dirty looks, and then Sarah struts around like she's just been crowned fucking queen, and I didn't even sleep with the bitch..." He stopped himself there, 'Great, now Bobby's gonna ask what I meant by that.'

But he didn't, Bobby let him go and the last thing John heard before he slipped down the stairs was Bobby whispering--more to himself than John--"So you're running from us." This nearly made John vomit. He had never considered himself a coward, nor had he thought that this might be considered fleeing when the going got tough.

He preferred to think of it as protecting himself and others, especially Amanda. John knew that if he didn't go back then Magneto would just think of some other way to put them all through hell. And he didn't want that. He swallowed the urge to go turn around and run back inside, and continued his way to the car.

-=-

Bobby went straight to Marie after John left. She was in the library working on an essay. She looked up when he approached, but before she could say anything he sat across from her and took her gloved hands into his. She could tell from the look on his face that what he was about to say was serious. "John's gone." Marie blinked, "Where'd he go?"

"Back to Magneto's."

Her eyes widened, "Without saying goodbye to us? To Amanda?" A realization hit her, "Does Amanda know?"

"I don't think so."

"Oh god! How are we gonna tell her?"

He lowered his head to her hands. "I don't know."

---


	21. Epilogue

The Dragon Tamer  
  
(*Rating may change in later chapters* PG-13 for swearing and suggestive actions and words. P/OC (a little R/B) Comes into play after X:2. What are these dreams John's been having? And who is this new girl at the old mansion? (( ' Indicates thoughts)) 

Disclaimer: I do NOT own the original X-Men or the topic.

Epilogue -Till We Meet Again

-=-

Everyone knew about John's leaving by the time dinner came around. Amanda found out from Evan, who discovered it from Sarah, who had been eavesdropping on Marie and Bobby in the library. This was, after all, the way news was spread anymore.

Amanda didn't go down to eat, she didn't feel like it. And she suddenly had the desire to be near John again, to smell him and hold him. Standing up she decided she would do the next best thing, and as she forced back tears she made her way to his and Bobby's room.

She was comfortable lying on his bed, it was still unmade from when Marie had slept in it--he never made it anyway--but it smelled like him. Amanda fluffed the pillow; she had been fidgeting with it for at least five minutes. It just felt like there was something hard inside it. Finally she got tired and was about to chuck the damn thing off the bed when something fell out of the case.

It was a CD (still in the case), by Bryan Adams. She opened it up, there was no CD inside, but a note fell out. It read,

--

Amanda,

I was going to give this to you on our one-month anniversary, but it looks like we won't be having one. So I'm leaving it here for you now. And even though we had a bad ending, we'll always have the dance.... And now we have this as well.

Till we meet again,

John

PS The disc is already in the player, turn it to #14

--

Standing up cautiously, her vision blurred by unshed tears. She turned the power on the stereo and clicked the disc straight to 14. As the music began playing, she let the tears fall.

**It still feels like our first night together  
**Feels like the first kiss and it's getting' better baby  
**No one can better this  
**I'm still holding' on and you're still the one  
**The first time our eyes met - it's the same feeling' I get  
**Only feels much stronger - I wanna love ya longer  
**You still turn the fire on...

**So if you're feeling' lonely ... don't  
**You're the only one I'd ever want  
**I only wanna make it good  
**So if I love ya a little more than I should...

**Please forgive me - I know not what I do  
**Please forgive me - I can't stop loving' you  
**Don't deny me - this pain I'm going through  
**Please forgive me - if I need you like I do  
**Please believe me - every word I say is true  
*Please forgive me - I can't stop loving' you

---


End file.
